


Scars Across My Heart

by SumiArana



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Claire cries a lot, Code Veronica spoilers, Completed, Domestic af, Emotional Baggage, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Virginity, Nightmares, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Slow Burn, Steve Burnside lives, Teasing, Whump, awkward teen romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:48:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23620036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SumiArana/pseuds/SumiArana
Summary: “Claire, she says that it might not just kill the virus. There’s a chance….” The message trailed off and she heard her brother sigh on the recording. “There’s still a chance Steve might not wake up. I’m sorry Claire. I’ll keep you updated. Please call me as soon as you wake up.”Steve Burnside lives.Smut in later chapters. Complete.
Relationships: Steve BurnsidexClaire Redfield
Comments: 32
Kudos: 34





	1. scars across my heart

**Author's Note:**

> I've been really sad the last few days, so I've been playing a lot of Resident Evil. Playing a lot of Resident Evil makes me write a lot of RE fanfic. I've just been really sad over Steve these last few weeks (as if anything changes about that ever) and I was thinking about it. I think he deserves a lot more love than he gets. and I wanted to write an AU where everything turns out ok for a little while.
> 
> there's a looooot of exposition in this one, sorry. Uh currently rated T but will likely be rated M/E by the end of the fic. This felt silly and indulget and I loved it a lot. T_T 
> 
> Oh yeah and title is from a Nightclub song.

The S.T.A.R.S safe house wasn’t exactly what Claire was expecting. The way she had pictured it in her head was more of a high tech bunker situation, metal walls and maps of Umbrella involvement with hand drawn attack plans. In reality, it was a small two bedroom house nestled in some undisclosed suburbs that had been sparsely decorated with mismatched furniture and generic thrift store art. It had kind of a ‘first apartment’ vibe to it.

Claire wasn’t about to complain, though. She was just happy to have somewhere to call home, even if it was just for a short time. She still had a long road ahead of her in the next few months and she just wanted some well-deserved rest and relaxation. It was nice to not have to worry about finding a place to live right away.

“I’m excited to see everyone.” She smiled, glancing over her shoulder at her brother as she surveyed the living area. She wasn’t sure when that would actually happen – she knew Rebecca was already working on getting Steve stable and synthesizing a vaccine against the T-Veronica virus. She hadn’t been allowed to see him once they got him in a bed. He’d been in pretty bad shape when they left the island and the hours long jet ride to get back to the States didn’t help. She wasn’t even sure he was going to pull through, but that was the last thing she wanted to think about.

“Yeah.” Chris reached out, squeezing Claire’s arm. “I’m glad you’re home.”

She smiled again, this time noticeably weaker. “Me too.” She was tired and found anxiety bubbiling at the thought that she didn’t know where ‘home’ was anymore. As much as she was desperate for things to go back to the way they were before, she knew there was no chance. Not with what the last three months of her life had been like. “What do we have to eat here? I’m starving.”

Chris couldn’t help but laugh – his worry eased considering his sister still had her very healthy appetite. “I’ll show you around the kitchen.”

Claire’s stomach rumbled loudly as she inspected the (surprisingly very full) cabinets. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a truly proper meal, much less the ability to sit down at a table with hot food. The only nutrition she’d gotten the last 36 hours or so had been the energy bars she’d hastily stuffed into her mouth in between skirmishes, and before that it had been exclusively prison gruel for two weeks. The prospect of actually getting to eat three square meals a day was almost too much for Claire.

Chris said his goodbyes, apologizing for leaving Claire here alone but knowing he had to get back to Rebecca. He didn’t want to leave her alone for very long, giving a purposefully vague answer about checking on the medic. The last thing he wanted to do was upset his little sister.

She’d never enjoyed a meal as much as she enjoyed her humble dinner of pizza rolls and boxed mac and cheese, she concluded after she practically inhaled everything she put on her plate. Her stomach was uncomfortably full and her eyelids felt impossibly heavy by the time she put her dishes in the sink. Threatening to fall asleep right there in the kitchen, she forced herself to shower and get ready for some well-deserved sleep.

The bathroom was small but well lit. A vase of fake flowers sat on the back of the toilet along with a small floral air freshener. She couldn’t help but smile. It was especially nice after the stench of mildew, death and rot. She was very thankful for the small things today.

She stripped her clothes off, letting them fall where they landed. Her skin was visibly grimy, caked in blood, dirt and sweat. She didn’t even know if it would be worth it to wash the clothes or if she would just have to trash them. She felt like it would be cathartic to burn them but figured she would worry about it later.

She let her hair down with a sigh, running her fingers through it to comb it the best she could as she let the water heat up in the shower. It felt gritty with dirt and gun powder. She stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out. She grimaced as she looked at the previously white tiles that were now covered with a thick layer of scum as she toweled off.

Her skin radiated red as she examined it in the light once she was dry. She thought for a moment that no amount of scrubbing would ever get her clean, but this would suffice for now. She touched some of her wounds gingerly, sighing. She needed to disinfect and bandage them before sleep even though she didn’t have the energy. She didn’t want to be something else for Rebecca to have to worry about. She wanted all of her attention on Steve.

A quick search through the bathroom cabinets and she found a plastic bin that had been colored red with a big marker reading, “medical supplies” on the opaque top. She opened it hastily, very thankful to find everything she needed inside. Bandages, disinfectant, triple antibiotic ointment and even a needle and thread. She couldn’t help but shudder, very thankful that none of her wounds required stitches. She doubted she had the stomach to stitch herself up anyway.

She tossed the towel into the dirty clothes hamper and made her way to “her room.” The walls were white and largely undecorated, save for some generic landscape photography. A single queen sized bed and nightstand were the only pieces of furniture in the room. A small suitcase sat opened beside the table, boasting fresh, clean clothes in her size. 

Claire sat naked on the bed, taking the plastic band off of a small bottle of disinfectant. She doused a few cotton pads in it, the fumes rising from it causing her to wrinkle her nose. She didn’t let it bother her too long, making quick work of treating her wounds. She bandaged the ones that needed to be covered, smeared antibiotic cream on the rest and left her trash in a small pile on the side table.

She didn’t remember falling asleep. She barely remembered her head hitting the pillow, really, but she’d been so downright _exhausted_ in every single sense of the word that it had been a miracle she stayed awake as long as she did. She slept like a baby for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

\--x--

Claire didn’t know what time it was when she fell asleep, how long she was unconscious for, or what time it was when she woke up. She stretched out on the bed, feeling her shoulders and back pop as she did so. She groaned, contemplating just staying in bed for a while. But her stomach rumbled and put an end to that thought.

She begrudgingly moved to her feet, pausing only to put on clothing. She had never been so excited to put on clean underwear. She pulled a t-shirt on next and a pair of sweat pants too – just in case. She didn’t know if any of the other former S.T.A.R.S. had come to visit in the time she’d been asleep and certainly didn’t want to walk out half naked in front of her brother or anyone else.

The rest of the house was quiet. She poked her head into the living room to confirm her suspicions – the house was still empty. She breathed a soft sigh of relief, because she’d left the kitchen a mess the night prior. She knew everyone would understand but still didn’t want to feel like she was taking advantage of their kindness.

Claire took her time cleaning as she familiarized herself more with the safe house. She didn’t feel like cooking again at the moment so she stood in front of the fridge and ate some shredded cheese straight out of the bag until her hunger pangs subsided. She eyed one of the beers, wondering what time it was before giving an audible “fuck it” and wrapping her fingers around one of the bottles.

She lifted the bottle to her mouth, taking a long drink and punctuating it with a loud, satisfied smack of her lips. She found herself wondering if the TV in the living room had cable.

The blinking light on the answering machine caught her attention as she passed. She tried to remember if that was like that earlier or not. She pressed the play button.

_“Hey, Claire, it’s Chris. It’s kinda late so I figured you were asleep, just wanted to give you an update. Steve is stable and on oxygen. Rebecca has him on fluids, pain killer and she’s making real progress on a vaccine. Anyway, give me a call when you wake up, yeah? I’m on speed dial. Love you.”_ Click.

Claire felt her stomach knot. She hadn’t even thought about Steve since she’d woken up. She felt a wave of jealousy that mingled with relief. _He might actually pull through this_ , she thought. A second beep resonated from the answering machine signaling a second message.

_“Hey, it’s me again. It’s about….ten am. Guess you slept all night. Haven’t heard from you, so, thought I’d check in again… Rebecca finished the vaccine.”_ There was a short pause in the message. Claire found herself pumping her fist into the air in celebration without even really realizing she was doing it. “ _Claire, she says that it might not just kill the virus. There’s a chance….”_ The message trailed off and she heard her brother sigh on the recording. _“There’s still a chance Steve might not wake up. I’m sorry Claire. I’ll keep you updated. Please call me as soon as you wake up.”_

It was almost like she’d been punched in the gut. She felt cold and there was a familiar tightness in her stomach. She knew better than to get her hopes up. This was all guerilla warfare against the virus. They weren’t making batches of a vaccine in a sterile laboratory to be tested on rats and go through a rigorous testing process. This was a last ditch effort to save him and even after everything it might not work. Her heart hurt. She wondered what time it was, eyes darting around the room until they landed on the simple black and white clock mounted on the wall. It was 7pm.

Her heart sank. He might already be gone.

She tipped the beer back, swallowing the last bit in the bottle and heading back to the kitchen looking for something stronger. She was happy to find a pint of vodka stashed in the freezer. She didn’t even bother with a shot glass, pouring a sizeable amount of straight vodka into a coffee mug and throwing it back. It burned her throat and she grimaced. She had never been a fan of cheap vodka, but it got the job done.

She found herself almost on auto-pilot, heading back to bed when she heard another beep followed by Chris’s voice emanating from the answering machine again. She hesitated. What if he didn’t make it? What if he’d turned there, with Rebecca, and wasn’t strong enough to beat it this time? Her head was swimming and she wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or the thoughts about Steve running through her mind.

She finally stepped back into ear shot of the machine. She braced herself for the bad news, digging her fingernails into her palms to ground herself.

“- it’s still early, but he’s awake. Rebecca says it’s almost a miracle. Steve’s a fighter. Call me, okay?”

She wasn’t aware that she was crying until the tears splashed onto her t-shirt. A sob tore through her body and she fell to her knees. It was like every emotion she’d been holding at bay came flooding out at once. She cried until she couldn’t anymore and her lungs were raw and her stomach ached. Then she forced herself to her feet and called her brother. Her hands shook as she hit the speed dial button that was designated for Chris.

“Hey, Claire. Did you just wake up? I haven’t heard from you in like, almost 28 hours. I was getting worried.”  
  
“Is he okay?” She asked, entirely focused on Steve’s well being. 28 hours? Is that how long she’d been out?

“Yeah. Well, so far, yeah. Rebecca thinks that if there would be any life threatening complications they probably would’ve already happened. He is still going to have to be heavily monitored, but…. She thinks he’s going to be okay, Claire.”

“Can I see him?” She whimpered, wiping residual tears off her face with her palm. She still felt sick to her stomach.

“We’re in the process of getting him ready for transport – now that he’s stable, Rebecca was wanting to get him comfortable at the safe house to keep a bed open here… are you feeling up to helping keep an eye on him?”


	2. You can never break something that's already been broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I was aiming for ~2k words per chapter and it's been pretty consistently hitting 2.5k words per chapter.
> 
> I've been just totally obsessed and working on this. This is a fic that I've kind of kicked around in my head or years and haven't ever gotten around to writing. It feels silly and self indulgent and I will not apologize hahaha. 
> 
> title is nightclub lyrics again [Little Token]

Claire was a bit on the apprehensive side as they unloaded the hospital bed and various medical devices for Steve into the safe house. She found herself chewing on her thumbnail as they unloaded the bed first, followed by the IV stand and a couple of boxes of essentials. She assumed this wasn’t the first time they’d had to bring in extra beds to accommodate so she didn’t argue. It would be much easier to take care of the younger boy here than dealing with him in the much smaller bedroom.

Steve’s injuries from his initial infection and mutation were much worse than Claire’s. While she’d managed to get away with small cuts, bruises, strained muscles and sore joints, Steve had not been near as lucky. Rebecca took her aside for a moment.

“So listen…. He’s stable, yes, but he’s still going to need a lot of care for at least the next few weeks. He’s not….. in _bad_ shape, but he’s hurt.” She squeezed Claire’s arm lightly to reassure her. “I think he’s going to be okay, but I’m going to need you to help me, okay?”

Claire practically paced around the living room as her brother went to retrieve Steve from the van. She couldn’t stop picturing him broken; his skin still tinted green and eyes red. Chris had mentioned that he would need to be sedated lightly for the travel, would he even be coherent?

The front door opened followed by the light squeak of metal on metal as Steve was pushed in on a silver wheelchair. He looked a little worse for wear – dark circles, small cuts on his face, deep bruising around his throat – but the smile plastered on his face told Claire he was going to be just fine.

“Hey, Beautiful.”

“Hey.” Claire felt tears sparking at the corners of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a mix of feelings wash over her – relief and anger. She was angry that Steve had put her through that, the worry and the hurt – but she was so relieved that he was sitting in front of her. “You’re – ugh – su-such an asshole.” She heard her voice quiver and she tore her eyes away from the younger boy, rubbing her eyes hard with her knuckle.

He gave a short laugh before wincing, applying pressure to his ribs with his palm. Even after everything he’d only broken two of his rib bones – probably from Alexia’s tentacle – and fractured his knee cap – likely from the fall. Rebecca said he was very lucky, but Steve didn’t feel that lucky. He felt bruised and broken. 

After they got the boy comfortable in bed, Rebecca walked Claire through the process to change the IV (and assured the Redfield sibling that she would not have to change the needle). Next the medic opened one of the boxes, pulling out a smaller metal box from the inside.

“So we have…. Green herbs, mixed herbs – you’re already familiar with those. Those you can give him pretty much as needed – you’re also welcome to them if you need some pain management.” Rebecca showed Claire pre-measured and ground doses of each. “Let me know if you start to run low and I’ll bring more.” She dug out a small, translucent orange bottle with white pills inside. The label had been removed. “This is the hard stuff, okay? Oxycodone. No more than once every 12 hours. You’re going to want to make sure he eats before he takes this because it _will_ make him sick if he doesn’t. If he’s not hungry, try the herb first. You’ll mostly want to do the oxy before bed, because it will probably make him sleepy, but it’s not a rule. Okay?”

Claire nodded, making mental notes of each. Seemed pretty straightforward, she’d used herbs probably a hundred times since Raccoon City. She was thankful they were pre-measured and that she didn’t have to guess how much to give him or deal with the full leaves. They were bitter and the taste often lingered even after they’d been ingested.

“I’ll be back tomorrow evening to check on you two. Claire, I fully intend on giving you a full examination too.” Rebecca scribbled her phone number on the pad of paper next to the answering machine. “Call me if you need me to bring you anything or you have any questions. I’ll answer, I promise.”

Chris didn’t stay for very long after Rebecca’s departure, ready to head back to his own place and get some sleep. He’d taken a few short naps while keeping an eye over Rebecca but sorely needed sleep himself.

He took Claire by the shoulders, making sure she looked into his eyes for his parting words, “Claire, if there’s an emergency, there’s a loaded shotgun under your bed. Okay?” He spoke slowly and quietly, letting each of his words hang in the air.

She swallowed hard and her eyes flickered over to the redhead set up on the hospital bed before back to Chris. She nodded once and hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “Yeah. …Love you, Chris.”

“Love you too, Claire.” He wrapped his arms around his younger sister, pulling her in close for a tight hug. “….Call me if you need anything okay? I’m just heading home to rest.”

“Okay.” She smiled weakly. “I will, I promise.”

Once Chris departed and she locked the door (and checked three times in the first twenty minutes due to her heightened anxiety level), she dragged one of the mismatched dining chairs to sit beside Steve’s temporary bed.

She felt a bit awkward and anxious – she’d built up in her head ten different ways she would lose him but none where she didn’t. She didn’t know what to say for a moment, sitting beside his bed silently. It felt surreal.

“….so, uh, how do you feel?” She asked flatly. She didn’t know what else you could ask a boy who had technically died.

Steve was silent for a moment as though he were choosing his words carefully. “Sore. And Tired.” He mumbled after a moment. Even with whatever cocktail Rebecca had him on for pain, his body ac _hed._ Deep. He moved his hand to clasp hers, his motions slow. He gave it a light squeeze. “….thanks, Claire.”

She screwed her eyes shut in a vain attempt to keep the tears from starting again. “I told you we’d get out of that place together.”

-x-

The first handful of hours was filled with awkward interaction and a strange shared discomfort. Claire wanted nothing more than to address his last words to her before he lost consciousness back in Antarctica. _I love you. I love you._ It kept running through her mind like a broken record. Did he mean it? Was he delirious? Was it the virus? Did Alexia have control over him at that moment? He was probably certain that he was going to die – would his words have been different if he thought he would see her again? The whole situation had her stomach in knots.

They both started to warm up to each other quickly. It was almost like running into an old friend a decade down the line and clicking immediately into place, even though they’d only known each other for a few days. She knew going through what they went through cemented a life-long bond, just like she shared that similar bond with Sherry and Leon. She felt both incredibly lucky and impossibly unfortunate to have such a strong bond with so many people.

Steve’s breathing slowly became more labored and he shifted, applying a bit of pressure to his ribs. The sedation had worn off almost entirely, and he could feel the pain killer starting to wear off too.

Claire perked up, her brow furrowed as she stared at him. Was his body rejecting the vaccine? “Steve?”

“Mm?”

“Are you okay?” She swallowed hard, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.

“Yeah.” He smiled weakly, turning his head to look at her. “Think the pain killer is wearing off.”

“Oh.” She breathed a sigh of relief. She stood, locating the metal box Rebecca had shown her earlier. She fished out one of the small, pre-measured bags of herb. “Rebecca said I don’t have to worry about giving you too much of this.” She handed him the baggie. “Let me get you something to drink.”

“Thanks.” Steve eyed the red and green flakes. He’d never seen it ground like this, much more used to the full leaves of the plant.

Claire disappeared into the kitchen, picking up a glass and filling it with cool tap water. She dropped a few ice cubes into it and fished out a fast food straw from the junk drawer for him. She figured he still didn’t have the dexterity to hold onto a glass and didn’t want to have to deal with getting him changed while he was so sore.

Steve stared at the bag in his palm. He turned it over once and squeezed it, feeling the contents crunch between his fingers. He wasn’t sure if he should just swallow it or if he was meant to mix it into something…

“You okay?” She laughed cautiously.

He felt his face get hot. He didn’t even hear her come back in. “Yeah. …do I just like,” he mimed pouring the bag into his mouth.

“Yeah. And then you’ll have some water to wash it down.” She held up the glass which already began to form condensation on the outside. “Easy, right?”

He nodded, fumbling with the top of the small bag before sighing and handing it off to Claire for help. She couldn’t help but giggle as she took it from him, pinching each side and pulling it open.

“Okay, open your mouth.”

Steve leaned back onto his pillow slightly, opening his mouth and feeling a faint blush creep across his cheeks. He couldn’t say if it was embarrassment for being practically helpless, or because it felt incredibly intimate but either way he couldn’t ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

Claire carefully dumped the contents into his mouth before bringing the straw up to his lips. “Here, water now.”

He closed his mouth around the straw, taking a long sip. He wrinkled his nose as he swallowed. It felt like swallowing sand but was somehow still better than dealing with the full leaves.

“Ugh. There isn’t an easier way to take that stuff?” He asked in between sips. The cold water was delicious and he could tell he needed it.

She found herself chuckling lightly as she set the now mostly empty glass on the table beside him. “Yeah, you can smoke it.”

Steve cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

“I’m sorry, what I should have said is you _can_ smoke it but _you_ will not be smoking it with a broken rib.”

He sighed softly, giving a slight shrug as he settled back into the pillows. He pressed lightly on his rib cage and winced. He was thankful the herbs had already started to work.

Claire stretched her arms over her head with a groan. She felt her shoulders pop lightly. Her body was starting to ache from being in the same position. Her stomach growled.

“I’m getting hungry. How are you feeling? You ready for dinner?” She asked, standing and stretching again. The movement felt good even in her already sore muscles.

Steve hadn’t really had much of an appetite. He was sure part of it was due to all of the medications, but couldn’t help but wonder if dying played a major contribution in it. He shrugged in response, knowing the answer should probably be an emphatic ‘yes’ but just not having the desire to eat.

“….okay, well, tell you what, I’m going to make food and you’re going to try to eat, okay? Rebecca said the herb’s supposed to help with appetite so hopefully you’ll be hungry by the time food’s done.”

He nodded, though wasn’t sure that would actually be the case. Either way, he could muster a few bites and it would probably make him feel better.

“What’s for dinner, then?” He gave a small smile.

“Do you have a preference?” She asked. He shook his head in response. She thought about it for a moment, knowing she should probably make something healthier than the macaroni and pizza rolls she’d had for dinner last night. “I could bake some chicken and there’s some fresh broccoli too. Does that sound good?”

Steve felt the smallest inkling of an appetite. “…yeah, actually, it does.”

-x-

It felt a little strange to settle back into a domestic life after everything she’d been through. It felt more real than it did last night as she prepared the chicken and preheated the oven. She had half of a thought to have a beer with dinner but decided against it, not wanting to impair herself while Steve needed so much care.

She listened for him to call but otherwise focused on dinner. Olive oil, salt and seasonings were rubbed into the chicken before it went into the oven. She chopped and sautéed the broccoli, getting more and more excited to eat as the meal came together. All of it felt normal and completely surreal at the same time.

She plated one for herself and a smaller helping for Steve. There was plenty left over if he wanted a second helping, but she didn’t want to make him feel like he had to finish everything on his plate.

“Dinner’s ready. Oh man, and if I say so myself, I think I did a pretty good job.” She couldn’t help but grin as she set Steve’s plate down on the side table. “You hungry?”

“Yeah, actually.” He wet his lips, looking over the simple meal Claire had cooked. He couldn’t remember the last time someone cooked for him, much less someone like Claire. He had zero complaints. “Yeah, this looks really good, thanks, Claire.”

“Can you handle it on your own?” She pointed her fork at him with a piece of broccoli speared on the end. “Or do you need me to feed you?”

Steve cocked an eyebrow. He almost didn’t want to say no to that but he also didn’t want to come off as entirely helpless. “I can do it.”

She smiled and popped the broccoli into her mouth. She was impressed with cooking her first real meal in months – she’d made this in college all the time, it was cheap and easy while also being relatively nutritious. It even tasted better than she remembered, and she wasn’t sure if the ingredients were better quality or if eating whatever she could to survive had really made her appreciate simple, fresh meals.

Much to both of their surprise, Steve finished everything on his plate and asked for a second helping. As soon as he began eating it became apparent how much he really needed the food – and part of him just wanted to let Claire know how much he appreciated her cooking.

Two helpings of food and plenty of ice water and Steve felt almost like a different person. His stomach was full and he felt more alert, the herb had eased his pain and he just felt…. Happy. For the first time in a long time, Steve Burnside was absolutely content.


	3. take a pill to make you brand new

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am still not apologizing for this being indulgent and fluffy. 
> 
> title is a lyric from Scary World by Nightclub

Claire found herself dozing off as she sat at the edge of Steve’s makeshift hospital bed. The day had taken quite a lot out of her but she still had a nagging thought that she didn’t want to leave him alone. She was worried he would wake up in an unfamiliar place and panic, or fall out of bed and hurt himself further. She was even more worried that she would wake up and find out that all of this had been a dream.

So she stayed where she was, perched beside him, even well into the morning hours as Steve slumbered. She watched his chest rise and fall, thankful for these quiet moments. She clasped his hand gently, mindful of his IV.

Her eyelids were heavy. She finally gave in and rested her eyes. Just for a few minutes, she told herself.

When she opened them again, early morning light was streaming in through the curtains. She lifted her head off of the edge of the mattress with a sigh. Her neck and upper back ached. She rolled her shoulders lightly in an attempt to remedy that.

Claire turned her attention to Steve, rubbing the back of her neck absently. Her stomach dropped and her blood ran cold. He wasn’t breathing anymore.

“Steve?” She asked quietly at first, repeating his name louder when he didn’t respond. She grabbed him by the shoulders, giving him a shake. His head lolled to one side, his entire body limp. “No, please. Steve, wake up. Please. You can’t leave me.” She whimpered, tears running down her cheeks.

His eyes fluttered open and locked onto Claire’s. They were red with little black slits where his pupils should have been. He opened his mouth to speak but only a low moan came out.

Claire immediately pushed herself away from the bed, knocking into the chair she’d been sitting in and knocking it to the ground with her. It broke, splintering and ending up in several pieces beneath her. She scrambled to her feet, heading to the phone. She had to call Rebecca and her brother.

With shaking fingers and looking over her shoulder at the figure on the bed that used to be Steve, she dialed the number Rebecca had left behind. It rang - until it eventually went to voice mail.

“Shit.” She cursed, hanging up and pressing the speed dial for her brother. She watched the monster rise from Steve’s bed, long limbs tangled with the sheets. It eventually stood and took one step before falling to the ground. It couldn’t walk on a broken knee. It wasted no time and started dragging itself towards Claire, jaw slack and teeth gnashing against air.

“No, please.” She found herself praying, begging. Chris didn’t answer. She dropped the receiver and scrambled for her room. She locked the door behind her with sweaty hands. She dropped to her knees, looking under the bed for the shotgun Chris had mentioned. She found a long, steel box. She pulled it out in one singular motion. She unlatched the box, throwing the top open.

With shaking hands, she loaded two shotgun shells into the gun. The moans were louder now, just outside the door. She could see it’s shadow under the crack of the door. A sob wracked her chest as she forced herself to her feet again. It was almost like she was on auto-pilot as she closed the distance between her bed and threshold. She unlocked the door, aiming the barrel of the gun close to it’s head.

“I’m sorry, Steve.” She whimpered, closing her eyes tight and squeezing the trigger.

Claire was jolted awake as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart pounded in her chest, her stomach in knots. Her face was wet, no doubt from the tears she’d been crying in her nightmare.

“Hey, are you okay?” He murmured quietly, his voice a bit hoarse. “Y’crying.”

She sat up and sucked in a deep breath, wiping her palms across her face. She was silent, gathering her thoughts for a moment and trying to calm herself down. She managed to nod, digging her knuckles into her eyes hard enough that she saw stars.

“S-sorry. Sorry.” She finally choked out once she could. “It was ju-st a bad dream. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” He smiled weakly. “You’re okay.” He squeezed her hand gently. “What did you dream about?”

She was hesitant to respond. She looked to him and then to their hands. “I lost you. Again.” The words alone were enough to cause another sob to rip itself from her lungs. “The vaccine rejected and you…. you turned and… I had to put you down.” She whimpered, burying her face in the crook of her elbow. She felt relieved and embarrassed and happy all at once.

Steve couldn’t help but give a short laugh, which he immediately regretted and pressed his hand to his ribs. “You were that upset about me?” He asked, incredulously. He almost didn’t believe her.

“Of course I was!” She hit him lightly in the arm with the back of her hand. “…asshole.” She sniffled.

He leaned forward the best he could, wiping away a tear on her cheek. “Well, I’m not going anywhere, so…. You’re just going to have to deal with that, I guess.” He smiled.

She smiled back, albeit a little weakly. She took in another deep breath to gather herself. “Thanks.”

“….I hate to ruin the mood, but I really have to piss.” He scratched the back of his head. “….sorry, I know it’s not glamorous, but…”

“Oh!” Claire stood up, feeling her whole body ache a bit from the position she’d slept in. She was thankful for the subject change, if she were being honest. She eyeballed Steve, wondering if she could lift him alone. “…can you wait until Chris gets here?”

“Sorry, I’ve been waiting.” He gave Claire somewhat of a pained look. “Rebecca has me in a brace, I’m pretty sure I can make it there if you just give me a little support to keep me steady.”

Claire swallowed hard but nodded. She pulled the blankets off of him, her face getting hot when she realized all he was wearing on the bottom was a pair of dark blue boxers. She tried to ignore his attire and helped him swing his legs around the side of the bed.

“Careful.” She murmured, using her shoulders under his arm to steady him. Luckily the bathroom wasn’t far – about fifteen steps or so. She counted each step as they moved, getting him positioned in front of the toilet. She still felt a little embarrassed.

“I’ll just… be outside. Let me know when you’re done.” She stepped outside the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She wrung her hands together as she waited.

Steve put most of his weight on his good leg, using his free hand pressed flat against the wall for balance. It felt good to be out of bed, if he were being honest. He rolled his shoulders and his neck, hearing tiny little cracks and pops as he did.

He flushed and hobbled over to the sink, washing his hands. He took his time, enjoying the way the warm water and soap suds felt on his skin. He remembered longing for hot, running water in the prison. He couldn’t wait to feel well enough to take a shower.

He made the mistake of looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was matted and clearly dirty, only furthering his desire for a long, hot shower – he had deep, dark circles under his eyes and all kinds of cuts and scrapes on his face. His lips were chapped and his skin was pale. He made a small noise of disgust and shook his head.

“All done.” He switched the water off and dried his hands on the towel. He hobbled over to the door, opening it carefully. He was thankful when Claire squirmed her way under his arm again for support. “….thanks. Uh, sorry, if I smell.” He added after a moment. He wasn’t going to complain about any sort of physical contact from Claire but he genuinely felt a little bad. “Haven’t had a shower in a while.” He smiled weakly.

“It’s okay.” She glanced up at him. He _definitely_ needed a shower, but she didn’t want to make him feel bad. “We’ll get you cleaned up soon. Might even give you a sponge bath.” She joked.

“Really?” Steve perked up. He seemed to like that idea. “….you got a cute nurses’ outfit, too?” He grinned.

She laughed. “Glad to see you’re feeling better, Steve.” She carefully helped him back into bed, pulling the sheets back over his legs. He settled into the pillows with a comfortable sigh.

“Thanks for taking care of me, Claire.” He murmured after a moment of silence. He almost felt guilty that Claire was spending all of her time making sure he was comfortable, cooking for him and making sure he had everything he needed. He hadn’t been taken care of like this since he was a child. He had a sudden memory of his Mom which caused a pang of grief. He hadn’t even considered the fact that he was an orphan now. He cleared his throat, trying to push the thought from his mind. “Is it time for another pain killer yet?”

“Of course. I’m happy to. I’m just happy that…. you’re here, Steve.” She murmured. The clock read 8:30. She counted on her fingers how many hours it’d been since his last pill – around midnight. “I can’t give you another oxy yet, it hasn’t been long enough. But we can do some herbs, yeah? And I’ll get you ice for your ribs.”

He sighed softly but nodded. No use in arguing – Claire was quite stubborn and he knew it wouldn’t be worth the energy. He watched Claire lean over the supply box, admiring her shapely legs as she did so. She glanced over at him and he tore his eyes away, feeling a light brush creep across his cheek bones.

“Mixed?” She held up the baggie, waiting for his confirmation.

“Please.” He cleared his throat, trying in vain to smooth his hair down. She laid the medicine on the side table before heading to refill his glass.

“Ice water?”

“Juice?” He smiled softly. He hated being picky, but he was hoping for something a little bit tastier than plain water.

Claire returned from the kitchen with a glass full of orange juice. He could hear the familiar sounds of a coffee pot percolating from the kitchen.

“Does that mean you’re hungry too?” She asked, opening the baggie for him and handing it to him.

Steve dumped the contents of the bag into his mouth, washing all of it down with a big swig of orange juice. He grimaced slightly, the almost sour, acidic taste mixing with the bitter, earthy taste of the herb as he swallowed.

“Gross.” He murmured.

She chuckled. “So….breakfast?”

-x-

Rebecca came through the front door with little warning, carefully balancing bags of supplies on her arms. She’d brought some more medical supplies – over the counter pain killer, bandages and gauze for wounds, a fresh IV bag, as well as some clean wash cloths and a tub at Claire’s request – as well as some other various things Claire had requested.

“Hey, Steve. How are you feeling?” Rebecca smiled, pausing by the side of his bed. She was very glad to see him alert and awake. “How’s the pain level today?”

“I feel….alright.” His body ached but that was to be expected. Claire had been keeping him as comfortable as possible with some of the best home cooked food he’d had in years, a steady stream of medication and company. He honestly couldn’t complain. “I want a shower, though.”

Rebecca smiled, holding up the plastic tub. “That’s what this is for. Should help until you’re feeling well enough for a proper shower. I’m going to put this stuff away and I’ll be back okay?”

He found himself very excited at the prospect of a sponge bath – not only because it would be nice to be touched all over, especially by Claire – but because he was caked in enough grime, sweat and whatever else that the idea of being _clean_ for the first time in god knows how long sounded _divine._

Rebecca busied herself with putting everything away – some medical supplies were left in the living room for quick access and others that were tucked under the bathroom sink for later. She left the supplies for the sponge bath on the edge of the sink. Lastly, she restocked the herbs for the pair of them.

The medic took Claire’s usual seat, pulling the chair closer to the younger boy. She pulled a small vial from her hip pack, sticking a needle through the top and filling it part way.

“What’s that?” Claire asked, folding her arms over her chest. She trusted Rebecca entirely, but still felt compelled to ask.

“Oh, antibiotics.” She smiled, using the already placed IV needle to deliver the medicine. “Ciprofloxacin, to be exact. Mostly just a precaution to prevent any sort of infection. I have a course of antibiotics for you too, Claire.”

She swallowed hard at the thought of having to have an injection. She had never been a fan of needles and all of this Umbrella nonsense made her feel extra uncomfortable.

Rebecca gave a short giggle at the look on Claire’s face, drawing the needle away and turning her attention to Claire. “It’s a pill. Steve needs much more aggressive treatment because his wounds are worse and required more intensive treatment.” She disposed of the needle in a small sharps container, turning her attention to the Redfield. “I didn’t forget about you, Claire. You’re next. I just need to check his vitals and check on hi stitches.”

Claire hesitated, glancing to Steve. “Yeah, can we….. privately?”

-x-

“Do you mind if I check your vitals, Claire?” Rebecca switched on the overhead light for extra visibility, sitting on the edge of the mattress Claire was currently calling her own. Her stethoscope hung loosely around her neck.

Claire was a bit apprehensive – she wanted to ask the medic about the nightmares, but she was also terrified of the answer. What if she was broken? What if this was something she had to deal with for the rest of her life.

“Claire?” Rebecca repeated, touching her shoulder lightly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She blurted out immediately, but fell silent for a moment as she reconsidered. “…I don’t know. I’m….anxious. All the time. I’m having nightmares. I…dreamed that he turned, last night. It felt so real.” She stared at the floor, not wanting to meet Rebecca’s gaze.

Rebecca pressed the cool metal end of the stethoscope to Claire’s back, listening to her as she spoke. “Deep breath, please.”

Claire did as instructed, taking in a deep breath and holding it for a moment until Rebecca instructed her to breathe out. “…it’s just like, I’m scared to leave him alone.” She murmured. “Like, if I leave the room for more than fifteen minutes, he’s just…. He won’t be there anymore.”

“Your lungs sound great.” Rebecca smiled softly, moving around to the front. She pressed the metal against Claire’s chest, listening to her heart beat. Her heart beat was elevated, but that was to be expected. “Heart sounds good too. A little quick, but that will even out.” She pulled the ear tips from her ears and let the device rest around her neck again. “Claire, nightmares and anxiety are normal. It sucks, but it’s completely normal.” She smiled reassuringly.

“Normal?” Claire frowned. She felt both relieved and annoyed. She wondered if Leon or Chris had nightmares like this.

“Absolutely. Claire, what your brother and I have been through, what you and Steve have been through…. It’s traumatic. I had to prescribe Jill trazodone to get her to sleep. Is that something you’re interested in trying?” She asked, gently touching one of Claire’s half-healed wounds with her gloved finger to check for infection. She frowned lightly. “….I want you to start the antibiotics tonight, okay?”

“Okay. Trazodone?” She asked, wincing lightly as Rebecca poked and prodded her various wounds.

“It’s a sleeping pill usually prescribed for insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder.” Rebecca hummed lightly, tracing her fingers along a particularly nasty cut on her shoulder. It was already healing but it would likely leave a nasty scar. “Claire, some of these are bad. I wish you would have let me know you were hurt.”

“PTSD?” Claire furrowed her brow. That was usually reserved for people that had been through war, right? People who had been on the front lines, killing _people_ , not … monsters that used to be people.

“I’m not a psychiatrist. I have a degree in Chemistry. But…. I would highly recommend looking into therapy and mental health when you are able….. for now, I’m going to give you some medication for anxiety and sleep, as well as the antibiotics…. You have _got_ to make sure you keep these wounds clean. They’re already likely going to scar.”

“I know.” She sighed. She’d gotten pretty good at making sure her wounds didn’t get infected, but she had a few from Raccoon City that had already left permanent marks on her body. “I made sure they were clean and I put ointment on them before bed.”

“Good girl.” Rebecca peeled the gloves off, tossing them into the small trash can beside the bed. “I need you to keep an eye on them. You’re doing a great job taking care of Steve, but you need to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself too. You have me and your brother to help.”

“Okay.” She smiled weakly, pulling her t-shirt back over her head.

“I mean it, Claire.” Rebecca gave her a look as she dug in her hip pack. She handed her a piece of cardboard with five pills attached. “Two with dinner, one every day after that for the following four days. With food. Yes?”

“Okay.” Claire flipped the package of antibiotics in her hand, examining it.

Rebecca shoved an orange pill bottle into her hands next. “This is trazodone… one pill at bedtime. There’s enough for a few nights. You can also give it to Steve if he’s having trouble sleeping. I wouldn’t mix it with the Oxy, though.” She added the last part after a moment. She pulled a small, plastic baggie out filled with small, blue pills. “This is alprazolam, anti-anxiety. These are one milligram a piece. I highly recommend splitting them in half or even in quarters if needed. Do _not_ mix these with alcohol or other medication, understood?”

Claire nodded, setting all of the medications on the bedside table. “Yeah. Thanks, Rebecca.”

“No big deal.” She flashed a smile and gave a thumbs up. “It’s what I do.”

Claire saw the medic out, thanking her one last time for the extra supplies and the examination. She felt a bit more at ease with the options of medication. She was very thankful for Rebecca having been through a situation similar.

She was incredibly thankful for the support system in place. ‘Zombies’ and ‘bio organic weapons’, thanks to Umbrella’s extensive cover-ups since the initial Spencer Mansion Incident, were still just make believe to most of the population. She wouldn’t have been able to walk into any hospital or clinic with her injuries, claiming she’d been attacked by monsters without being involuntarily committed.

After a moment to gather her thoughts and re-center herself, she was ready to take on the rest of the day. She returned to the edge of Steve’s bed, clapping her hands together. “Are you ready for that sponge bath?”


	4. catch me now, i'm falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gratuitous! sponge! baths! STUFF IS FINALLY HAPPENING, FOLKS
> 
> shout out to Jackie & Tiffany for helping me work thru some kinks in this fic.
> 
> You can follow me on twitter, @burnside_fan if you're interested in story updates etc.

Steve couldn’t help but grin at Claire’s proposition of a sponge bath. He’d honestly thought she was joking this when she’d mentioned it that morning.

“Really?”

“I mean, I had Rebecca bring all the stuff for it. We’ll wash your hair and get you cleaned up.” She smiled, but found her confidence faltering. “…unless you don’t want me to.”

“No, no, I want you to.” He said almost too quickly. He fiddled with his blankets. “….unless you don’t want to.”

“….I’m gonna go run some warm water.” She shook her head with a soft smile, disappearing into the bathroom.

Steve could hear the water running and Claire fumbling through the cabinets. The distinctive sound of half-filled bottles crashing to the tile floor of the bathroom made him smile. Life already felt like it was starting to return to normal – normal-ish, anyways. Every moment she was out of sight, he found himself getting a little more excited.

The idea of Claire touching him all over, slowly, had him downright giddy. An image of her sleeping, pressed up against him entered his mind. He remembered marveling at her while she slept, wanting nothing more than to brush his lips against hers.

“Steve?”

“Huh?” He snapped back to reality. He blinked a few times. “Sorry.”

“I asked if you like hot or cold water for washing your hair.”

“Oh, uh… hot. Please.” He wet his lips, leaning back into his pillows. He told himself to relax. At this rate he wouldn’t even make it through the sponge bath.

Claire carried the tub filled with hot water carefully back into the living room. A dark towel was draped across her shoulder. She hummed quietly to herself as she went about setting everything up. She pushed the sheets and blankets off the bed and spread the dark towel in their place. Next came the tub, making sure it was stable before turning back for shampoo.

Steve watched her, swallowing hard. He suddenly felt very exposed without the blankets covering him. The thin t-shirt and boxers that clung to his body weren’t exactly… sexy. He wondered if he should call it off and just wait until he could stand to shower.

Claire dipped her fingers into the water to make sure the temperature was still comfortable. She looked up to him expectantly, waiting for him to move over. She frowned when he stayed still.

“Are you okay?” She knit her brow in concern. Had the pain killers worn off? Did he need help to move?

“You don’t….have to, Claire.” He murmured.

“Steve, you’re being ridiculous.” She held her hand out for him to take. He hesitated, eyeing it for a moment before taking it and moving to the towel. “You’ll feel better after, I promise.”

He sighed softly, laying down carefully with his neck propped up over the water. Claire used her hand to cup the clean water and gently pour it over his hair. The water ran a light gray as it trickled back into the bucket. She wasn’t surprised, considering how dirty her own hair had been.

Steve closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Claire’s fingertips being dragged lightly across his scalp as she wet his hair. He could smell the slightly sweet, somewhat fruity scent of the shampoo as Claire squeezed a healthy amount onto her palm. She lathered it, running her fingers through his strands. The suds started out white and worked their way to gray very quickly as they did their job lifting the filth from his hair.

He gave a small gasp, feeling a shudder run the length of his spine. His heart beat quickened and he screwed his eyes shut, trying to quell the feelings in his stomach. Every little touch from her was like a static shock running through his body. His breath hitched in his throat.

“Sorry,” She drew her hands away. “Is it too hot? Am being too rough?”

“N-no.” He breathed. “Just feels…nice.”

She chuckled softly, rinsing the suds from his hair. His hair looked noticeably better, almost a shade or two lighter. “How’s that feel?”

“A little better….. still kinda gross.” He admitted.

“Yeah, I had to wash mine twice, too.” She murmured, squeezing another bit of shampoo into her hand and working it into his hair. She paid loving attention to each strand, listening to Steve’s breathing as she did so. She smiled inwardly, enjoying his reactions. “You’ve never had anyone else wash your hair, have you?” 

“Nuh uh.” He wet his lips.

“I used to know girls in college who would get blowouts just to get their hair washed. It’s nice.” She agreed with a nod. She rinsed his hair again, running her fingers through his wet locks one last time. They squeaked lightly and she smiled, satisfied. “Okay, hang tight for a minute…. Gonna get some fresh water.”

Steve slowed his breathing, focusing on long, deep inhales and slow exhales. He felt his heart rate start to return to normal and he relaxed a bit. He silently reprimanded himself for getting so worked up at _having his hair washed._ He folded his hands in his lap as Claire returned to the room.

“Alright….” She replaced the bin. “Can you sit up again for me?”

Steve propped himself up on his elbows and carefully pushed himself into a sitting position. A few stray droplets of cooling water began to run down his neck and his back, causing him to shiver again.

“Arms up.” Claire hooked her fingers under the hem of his t-shirt. He did as instructed, the best he could. She wasted no time, pulling it over his head and making sure to be gentle around his IV. He swallowed hard, trying to resist the urge to cover himself up. He was almost entirely exposed, aside from the boxers that were starting to become a little bit tighter.

“Well, was this everything you wanted?” Claire teased lightly, dipping a clean wash cloth into the warm water and wiping it across his back. She was careful around his stitches and bruises, rinsing the cloth before spreading a liberal amount of the citrus scented body wash on it.

Steve felt his face get hot. He liked it even more than he thought he would. He didn’t want to squick her out or make her feel like he was enjoying it _too much,_ but he was thoroughly enjoying himself. It had been months since he’d even _seen_ a girl, much less getting touched by one. He was willing to chalk part of his enjoyment up to platonic touch – he’s sure he would’ve enjoyed this just as much if some other girl had done it – but all of the feelings he held for Claire were starting to bubble back up.

After his back was done, Claire rinsed the cloth again in the water. It was already starting to turn that familiar brown-gray color with a light dusting of sediment at the bottom. She noticed he had far less dried blood on him than she would’ve expected and assumed Rebecca had done some sort of preliminary cleansing before treating him.

“Here, let me do your face while the water is…. Still kinda clean.” She wrinkled her nose lightly, taking him by the chin lightly. She wiped the cloth over his forehead and down the bridge of his nose, slowly and gently. Next came his cheeks, which she noticed were quickly darkening as the blood rushed to them. She smirked softly, pausing to brush her damp fingers across his cupid’s bow. “There. I can see your freckles again.”

He made a soft noise in response, keeping his eyes closed. He couldn’t help but notice how soft Claire’s hands were, despite everything.

“S’nice.” He murmured after a moment. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She brought the cloth down his throat, brushing her fingers lightly over the bruises there. An image of him, pinned down by that awful iron axe, flashed through her mind and caused her to recoil. “…sorry.”

“You didn’t hurt me.” He swallowed hard.

“That’s good.” She smiled weakly, dragging the wet cloth across his collar bone. His skin was pale and littered with imperfections. Scars, cuts, bruises. She traced the scars gently, listening to the way his breathing would change as she did so. She was especially careful around the deep purple and black bruising that left no room to guess which ribs were broken.

The whole process took a bit longer than she’d anticipated and she told herself it was just because she was being through – definitely not because she was enjoying it. She tossed the cloth into the bucket with a satisfied sigh.

“Do you feel better?” She smiled, drying her hand on her pants. Her fingers were lightly pruned.

He nodded, keeping his hands folded tightly in his lap. He hoped he could stay in this position until he could bury himself under the blankets again.

“Good.” She smiled, slowly gathering the supplies to put them away. “I’m glad I could be of service.”

“Thank you.” He mumbled, watching her disappear back into the bathroom with her arms full. He took the time to shift back into his original position, his back against the pillows at the head. He realized too late that it was all in vain because he couldn’t reach the blankets that Claire had pushed off onto the ground. He sighed and kept his hands folded over his lap, hoping Claire wouldn’t notice when she returned.

Claire dumped the dirty water out into the shower, watching the murky liquid disappearing down the drain. She found herself a bit distracted – she couldn’t get the way Steve responded to her touches out of her head. Obviously, she cared very much for the younger boy. How much, she didn’t know. She couldn’t help but wonder if all of her feelings could be chalked up to their shared trauma.

She wrapped her arms around the rim of the sink, leaning close to the mirror. She stared at herself for a long, silent moment. Was she really interested in this boy, or was she simply considering him because they’d been through hell and back together? She sighed, pressing her forehead to the cool glass of the mirror. She was acutely aware of something below the belt tingling.

She rinsed her face with some cool water and headed back out to the living room. She frowned lightly when she noticed Steve seemed quite rigid. His back was straight against the pillows, his hands awkwardly sitting in his lap.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Can I just – blankets, please?” He tried to keep his request as short as possible, not wanting to give himself the chance to fumble over his words. He gestured with his head to the foot of the bed.

“Oh, of course. Sorry.” She bent down, picking up the blankets and returning them to the bed. Steve unclasped his hands, fumbling for the edge of the blanket.

“Oh!” Claire spun around immediately as he did, her face getting hot. She saw the tent in his boxers that he’d been carefully concealing from her. She felt a rush of heat over her entire body and she wrote it off as embarrassment. “….I’m going to make a cup of coffee. Sorry.” She added after a moment, already on her way into the kitchen.

Steve groaned in frustration, leaning his head back. _Great. You’ve really done it now. She thinks you’re a pervert._ He thought, rubbing his temples with his forefinger and thumb. He wondered if he could blame it on the drugs – he seemed to be on enough that it might be a feasible answer.

Claire’s fingers were shaking lightly as she busied herself with making a pot of coffee. She measured the grounds carefully, only spilling a bit as she dumped them into the filter. Having a cup of coffee this late in the evening was risky, but that wasn’t what she was worried about at the moment. 

Clearly, he’d enjoyed it more than she’d thought. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that – happy that she’d given him some comfort? Embarrassed that something so hardly sexual had managed to turn both of them on?

She found herself in the kitchen until the coffee was finished brewing. She prepared hers exactly how she liked it – two sugars, splash of milk. She took a deep breath of the steam coming off of her cup, letting the familiar scent relax her as she pumped herself up for the upcoming conversation.

“….sorry. I didn’t mean to… shame you, or anything.” She said once she re-entered the living room. She stood a few feet away from Steve’s bed, feeling a bit self-conscious and awkward.

“No, I’m sorry.” He blurted out, running a hand through his still damp, but thankfully very clean, hair. “I don’t… I’m not a pervert, or anything. It just… it was nice havin’ you touch me.” He murmured, sinking lower into the pillows. His face burned almost red enough to rival his hair.

“Yeah. I liked it too.” She murmured quietly, practically into her coffee as she took a sip. No doubt these circumstances were strange – three days ago she’d been fighting to stay alive and today she was feeling awkward around a boy with a boner. It was like high school all over again.

Steve couldn’t hide a soft smile. “Really?”

Claire shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She felt a little uncomfortable about the situation – she didn’t want to feel like she was taking advantage of him. He _was_ two years younger than her and god knows he was particularly fragile right now – they both were, to be honest. She didn’t want to rush into anything, especially right now. She chose her words carefully.

“Yeah. It…. I’ve never really given a sponge bath before. Like, I know the movies paint it in a specific light, but…” She trailed off, taking another long sip of her coffee. “….It was nice, is all.”

Steve looked positively gleaming. “It was nice.” He agreed.

Claire tipped her mug back, finishing off the last bit of coffee. “….I think I’m going to take a shower, now.” She needed a moment to collect herself and wanted to give Steve – ah, some privacy.

She closed the bathroom door behind her, making sure to lock it. She knew it was _very_ unlikely if not downright impossible that Steve would barge in on her, but she wanted to know she wouldn’t be bothered. She turned the shower on, listening to the water hit the tile as the steam began to fill the room.

She stared at herself in the mirror again, shaking her head after a long, silent look at herself. She had one question to ask herself.

“Claire, what are you getting yourself into?”


	5. kiss like novocaine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so cheesy, now i'm apologizing lmao

Claire finished taking her (much longer than it needed to be) shower and towel drying her hair to give both herself and the boy a little space. Though to tell the truth, it did feel nice to take a moment for herself. She even found a vanilla scented lotion under the sink that she spent the extra time to rub into her skin. She almost wished she had a mud mask to complete the experience and told herself she’d add it to the shopping list for Chris. She didn’t even what to think what gunk had worked itself into her pores.

She emerged from the bathroom, running her fingers through her hair. She added ‘get a haircut’ to her rapidly growing mental to-do list, considering cropping it short. She didn’t know if she actually had the guts to chop her locks off, but wanted something that felt new as she stepped into the next phase of her life.

“Woah.” Steve blinked a few times, staring at her. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her with her hair down. He didn’t realize how long it was. Soft auburn waves that ended in the middle of her back. “You look… pretty.”

She gave a short laugh. “What, cause of the hair? It’s still damp and it’s gonna dry weird if I put it up.”

“I mean…. I think y’always look pretty.” Steve smiled shyly. “But, I’ve never seen it down… I like it.”

“Steve, you don’t have to try to flatter me. I just saw what I looked like in the mirror.” She half-joked. It would take at least a few days if not a few months before she actually felt attractive again. 

Steve opened his mouth to argue as the front door unlocked. Chris’s voice could be heard calling from the doorway.

“I hope you guys are hungry. I brought Happy Burger.”

Claire’s face lit up at the thought of a cheeseburger and fries. She was doubly excited at the aspect of not having to cook. It wasn’t that she minded, it was just _another_ responsibility on top of everything she already had to worry about. Taking care of Steve really was taking almost all of her waking hours.

“You’re a life saver, Chris.” She grinned.

Claire helped her brother plate the food in the kitchen. It felt a little silly to dirty dishes for fast food, but the routine was helping her get back into the swing of normal life. She plated Steve’s, cutting his burger into sections so it would be easier for him to handle.

“I’ll grab us some beverages and meet you two in there.” Chris flashed a smile at the younger Redfield. He was excited to spend some time with her now that they had the chance. He hadn’t been able to spend a substantial amount of time with her in far too long, thanks to all of the dealings in Raccoon City. He felt a little guilty, if he was being honest, for not reaching out to contact her before all of this happened. It seemed like they could have prevented at least some of this mess with a little bit of correspondence but he’d been very wary of bringing her to Umbrella’s attention. He didn’t know if this was the better outcome or not.

Claire presented Steve’s plate to him with a wide smile. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  
Steve found his mouth watering a bit as he took the plate. The somewhat artificial but undeniably delicious smell helped stoke his appetite. He picked up one of the quarters, taking too large of a bite. “Mmmm.”

She balanced her plate in her lap, digging into the crispy golden fries. She dipped them on some of the ketchup smeared on her plate and shoved them in her mouth, whole. Her eyes flickered into the back of her head for a moment – they were cooked to perfection. She’d missed food that actually tasted good.

Chris joined her next to the younger boy, holding a beer for Claire and himself and a cold soda for Steve. He handed one of the bottles to Claire, setting Steve’s cola on the table beside him, already opened.

Claire took the booze, blinking at him for a moment. “….I don’t think I should be getting drunk right now, Chris. I’ve got Steve to take care of.”

“It’s one beer, Claire.” He gave Claire a look. “With dinner. One beer isn’t going to get you drunk.”

She gave a shrug, supposing he was right. Beers and burgers did pair pretty excellently together, she couldn’t deny that. She tilted the bottle to her mouth, taking a swig. This was different than the beer she had the first night she was here – it was lighter, almost sweeter. Too easy to drink, as she found out very quickly.

“So how’s it been here? You holdin’ it down okay?” Chris asked, wiping some mustard off his face with the back of his hand.

“Yeah. Rebecca came by today. Checked my vitals, gave me some pills for sleep. And antibiotics.” She took a sizeable bite of her burger. Exactly what she’d wanted – bacon avocado. She was so thankful that Chris remembered her favorite Happy Burger order.

“Are you having trouble sleeping?” He asked through a thick mouthful of burger. He already knew what the answer was. He would probably be more worried if she was getting enough sleep straight out of the Hell she’d been in.

Claire gave a nod, twirling a fry in her fingers. “Yeah. Nightmares.” She murmured.

“They’ll get better.” Chris smiled, giving his sister’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. “I promise.”

-x-

Dinner and a beer turned into a second beer as she got lost in deep conversation with Steve and her older brother. It finally felt like home – before college, before Raccoon – when she would sit and talk to Chris for hours. She felt relaxed for the first time in recent memory – her back didn’t hurt, her stomach wasn’t in knots, and she didn’t have the gnawing anxiety that something was wrong in the back of her head. For once – she felt normal. More or less, anyway.

She didn’t even realize she was past ‘buzzed’ and solidly into ‘tipsy’ until Chris said his goodbyes. She stood up and it was like all of the alcohol rushed to her brain. She felt fuzzy and her limbs moved a bit slower than she would have liked.

Chris wrapped his arms around his sister, hugging her tight. “Thanks. I needed that.”

“Me too.” She smiled softly, looking up at her brother from his chest. “Thanks for dinner.”

Chris was silent for a few seconds as he released her. “…you really care about him, don’t you?”

Her face flushed. Even after the time apart, her brother could still read her like an open book. “Yeah, I do.”

He squeezed her elbow. “Yeah. I saw the way you were looking at him.”

“Oh, jeez.” She covered her eyes with her palm. “Was it that obvious?”

“Halfway through that second beer, yeah.” He ruffled her hair. “I’ll check on you tomorrow. Have some water before bed.” He opened the door to step outside, pointing a finger at her as he said his next words. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Claire.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Chris. Love you.”

“Love you.” He called back, already partially down the driveway.

“Your brother’s nice.” Steve smiled softly at Claire as she reappeared in the living room.

“Yeah. Chris is…. He’s just a great guy all around.” She smiled. “He just wants to help people, I think. That’s why he joined S.T.A.R.S in the first place and got into this whole mess. I wouldn’t…. have been able to get you into the plane without him. He carried you on his shoulders and made sure you were safe.” She heard the words as they came spilling out of her mouth. She couldn’t stop them even if she wanted to. “He’s the one that flew the plane. He’s the one that brought you to Rebecca.”

“I’ll have to thank him for that.” Steve mused. She seemed to be much more open now than before dinner. Relaxed, maybe even genuinely happy. It was a good look on her. “Rebecca, too. I owe them both a lot.”

Claire found herself bringing the chair closer to Steve’s side and taking his hand in both of hers. She just enjoyed the warmth of his skin for a moment before speaking. Her tone was a bit more somber now. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“You said that already.” He teased lightly, trying to keep his stomach from tightening. He felt giddy and nervous – like a kid with a crush.

“I know. But I really mean it.”

“Me too.”

She was silent for a moment before the words started bubbling out again. “Steve, I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies. I’ve been up close and personal with rotting zombies a hundred times over. Too many to count.” She spoke quietly, half hoping he wouldn’t hear her. “Being locked in that room with you – your body was the worst experience I have had in my life.” She spoke as calmly as she could muster despite the tears running down her cheeks. “Knowing I couldn’t do anything to help after…” She trailed off as another sob shook her body.

“Claire…” He leaned forward the best he could, wrapping his arms around the older girl’s shoulders and holding her the best he could with his very limited range of movement. His ribs ached dully, but he put it out of his mind.

She let a sob slip past her lips and she covered her mouth with her hand. The last thing she wanted to do was get Steve worked up, but the alcohol had done the work of tearing down the last bit of the walls she’d built up.

She didn’t know how long she cried before her sobs subsided into occasional whimpers and deep breaths. Pressed up against Steve, even as a blubbering mess, just felt right. He didn’t let go until her sobs began to subside. He rubbed her back and wrapped his fingers in the tips of her hair.

“Hey, cheer up, beautiful.” He murmured, using his thumb in a wide motion to wipe away the tears still lingering on her cheeks as she looked up at him. “I made a pretty bad zombie, I think.”

Claire cracked a small smile, closing her eyes as Steve’s fingers brushed her cheek. “Yeah. I thi-nk so, too.” She hiccupped lightly, rubbing hard at her eyes.

“I’m here, though. I’m right here. I promise you, Claire, I’m not going anywhere.” He leaned his forehead against Claire’s, tucking a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. “And I’m okay. You’re okay, too.”

She sniffled softly and closed her eyes, enjoying his comfort. She’d always played the ‘tough’ girl, didn’t cry, played rough and tumble with the boys. Chris taught her to hold her own in almost any situation; unfortunately a lot of the time, the negative outcome of that meant she bottled her emotions up until she couldn’t anymore. It was nice to let the idea that tough girls didn’t cry go.

Steve cupped her face in his hands gently, blue eyes studying her face for a moment. “You asked me if I meant …. What I said, at the end.”

She nodded with another small sniffle. She was almost afraid of the answer. She didn’t want him to say he didn’t mean it.

“I did. Claire….” He glanced away from her for a moment, mind racing to settle on the right words. “You are the most… amazing person I think I’ve ever met. You’re smart, and you’re funny and you’re _so strong._ ” He said in a voice hardly above a whisper. “I love you. I love everything about you.” He paused and a soft smile formed on his lips. “I’d die for you, you know.”


	6. you make all my darkness go away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the slowest burn fanfic I've ever written. It's a process. Again shoutout to @tvrs_01001 and @MrsAlbertWeskar for helping me when I got stuck/with ideas etc. There may be some (alternate?) au coming with this au, so get hypeee

Claire was apprehensive. Part of her thought this was how it was supposed to be. Like maybe, for once, she actually deserved a happy ending. Her luck had been… bad, to say the least. She wouldn’t have made it off of Rockfort if it weren’t for Wesker’s attack on the island, and she was not ready to call any scale of outbreak ‘good luck.’

She looked up at him, thoughts running through her head. She shut them all out after a moment, leaning forward and allowing her lips to hover just above his. She enjoyed the closeness for a moment, listening to the way that his breath hitched. When she finally closed the gap, his lips were rough against hers.

The kiss was awkward at first. Steve tensed, his heart skipping a beat. He’d fantasized about this so many times he couldn’t count. He’d kissed girls – before, in school – but it was nothing like this. Her lips sent fireworks coursing through his body.

“Relax,” She whispered between kisses, tips of her fingers brushing his neck. Her hand came to rest there, palm flat and fingers splayed against the bare skin that wasn’t covered by his t-shirt.

He did so the best he could, letting his muscles relax. He touched her jaw lightly. He kissed back, slow, soft, small little kisses. His fingers twisted into her hair, feeling the strands slip between his fingers. It was even softer than he expected.

By the time they broke apart, his breaths came in soft pants that mingled with Claire’s soft sigh. Warmth spread through his chest, his heart fluttering in his chest. It was hard to breathe.

“Wow.”

“Wow.” She agreed with a smile. She wasted no time, kissing him again. More passionately this time, tongues cautiously slipping past lips, withdrawing. Exploring each other, bit by bit. Heavy breathing quickly turned into quiet moans and short whimpers.

Claire finally drew away, staring at him for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. “….you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.” She breathed.

Steve felt a little dizzy. “Y’shoulda done it sooner.”

She couldn’t help but laugh, despite the tears sparking at the corners of her eyes.

-x-

Claire slept well for the first time in recent memory. No nightmares – no dreams at all, really. She was thankful for that. She got out of bed refreshed and relaxed. She really felt like everything was falling into place.

She was surprised to find Steve still sleeping soundly, his chest rising and falling with each breath. She couldn’t help but linger, watching him sleep. She had half of a thought to climb up in bed with him but figured that was not the wise decision to make at the moment.

She found herself in the kitchen, listless. She wasn’t sure if a cup of coffee would make it worse or better, but opted for the comfort in a mug. It was a simple joy from her previous life and now that things were finally starting to return to normal, it was her first craving in the morning.

She poured her cup and fixed it the way she liked it, taking a seat at the dining room table after. It felt nice to sit and relax. She held the mug between both of her hands, bringing it to her face. She breathed in deeply, thankful that whoever had stocked the cabinets for her had the foresight to buy good coffee.

Claire felt peaceful. Hopeful. Not just relaxed, but like everything might end up okay. Like the first rays of sun after a stormy night. She was brought out of her thoughts as the phone rang in the other room.

She scrambled to her feet, answering it as quickly as she could so as not to wake Steve. She pressed the receiver to her ear, picking up the corded base of the phone and bringing it with her back into the kitchen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Claire. It’s Leon.”

“Hey. It’s good to hear your voice.” She couldn’t help but grin. She hadn’t talked to Leon since she’d sent that short e-mail back on Rockfort with her co-ordinates, begging for help.

“You too. How are you holding up?” She could hear the smile in Leon’s voice.

Claire twirled the cord around her finger. “…I’m okay. I slept for the first time in a few nights. No nightmares.” She added after a moment.

“That’s great. I’m glad to hear. How’s… what’s his name, is it Steve?”

“Steve’s…. healing. Mostly I’m just trying to keep him comfortable. Did Chris fill you in on everything?”

“I mean…” Leon dropped his voice as if he were telling a secret. “He… died, right?”

“He died. ..I don’t even know what Rebecca did, exactly, but she brought him back. Gave him a vaccine.” Claire swallowed the last bit of rapidly cooling coffee in her mug. She still wasn’t in a place she could give many details without bursting into tears. It would come with time. “He’s sleeping right now.”

“I’m glad Rebecca’s on our side.” Leon murmured. He didn’t know what they would’ve done without her – she was the one that dug the bullet fragments from his (thankfully, all healed) bullet wound directly after Raccoon City. Ada had patched him up _just enough_ to get him through the night, but Rebecca had made sure the wounds were clean and ready to heal. He still had the scar as his souvenir from that night, but he doubted it made much of a difference either way.

“Me too.” She was silent for a moment before changing the subject. “….how are you holding up these days, Leon?”

“I’m good. I don’t know if your brother had a chance to tell you, I got…. Uh, offered a job in the Division of Security Operations. The DSO.” He conveniently left out the fact that he’d been forced into the position to help Sherry. He didn’t want Claire feeling any guilt – he was sure she would’ve stayed to protect that little girl if it weren’t for her brother.

“That’s great, Leon.” She smiled again, feeling a warmth start to spread through her as she thought of Leon helping people. Joining RPD, asking to go into Raccoon City to help…. Leon had a big heart. Working for the DSO would be great for him.

“Yeah, thanks, Claire. Uh, I gave you a call because I’m going to be in town. I wanted to see if it was okay if I swung by to see you?”

Claire found a bit of excitement welling up in her stomach. She’d missed Leon and thoroughly enjoyed the idea of seeing him. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot. I’m sure Steve would love to meet you, too.”

“Sounds great. I’ll be by in the late afternoon then.”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “We’ll see you then, Leon.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Claire couldn’t help but bask in the feelings that washed over her at the prospect of getting to see Leon, even just for a moment. She was brought out of her excitement as Steve called for her from the living room. Her enthusiasm was quickly replaced by a creeping feeling of guilt.

Just hearing Leon’s voice and knowing he was thinking of had made her painfully aware of the feelings she had for the former cop. She somehow felt like she was cheating on Steve – despite the fact they’d done nothing but kiss. She started to wonder if she felt obligated to be with him.

She set the phone back in it’s place beside the answering machine with as much of a smile as she could muster. “Morning. Did I wake you?”

Steve had managed to push himself into a sitting position, more or less. “No, just stiff.” He saw the look on Claire’s face and corrected himself quickly, “My muscles hurt.”

She felt a second pang of guilt, convinced she’d asked too much of him yesterday. “I’ll get you some ice and we’ll get you comfortable again.” She smiled at him over her shoulder as she pulled one of the dwindling packets of herbs out. “Start with this.”

Back in the kitchen, Claire wrapped a bag of frozen peas in a clean dish towel. She hoped it would be enough to help ease his aches and pains – she hated seeing him like this. Was it pity that had lodged itself in her gut?

She sat on the edge of the mattress instead of in her usual spot, offering the impromptu ice pack to Steve. “Where does it hurt?”

“My ribs.” Steve swallowed hard at her sudden closeness as she leaned forward and pressed the peas against his bruises. “T-thanks.” It was like his brain was static when she was this close – his heart pounding in his ears.

Claire was silent for a moment. “My friend Leon is going to come by today.” She stared at the side table beside Steve’s bed, cluttered with empty packaging and soda cans.

“Oh, cool.” Steve smiled. He hoped she didn’t notice it was forced. It wasn’t that he didn’t like meeting Claire’s friends – he did. He just wanted to spend time with her. Yesterday had left him full of more questions than answers.

“Yeah, I think you’ll really like him.”

-x-

After a quick breakfast for the both of them – cereal and orange juice – Claire got to tidying up. She cleaned off Steve’s side table, organized the medical supplies, tucking away everything they didn’t need immediately. She hadn’t been the slightest bit concerned about the state of the safe house when Rebecca and Chris had visited, but wanted it to look nice when Leon turned up.

In her quest to make the temporary home feel more like _home_ , she located a woefully under used CD player. She blew the top layer of dust off of it, perusing the small stack of CDs. She recognized some of the discs from Chris’s collection – Queen, Pink Floyd, Guns N’ Roses, The Police and some she didn’t that she assumed belonged to Jill – Bryan Savage, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac.

“What do you think, Queen or Guns N’ Roses?” She asked, turning to Steve with each of the albums in her hand. Queen was a classic, one of her absolute favorites, but she wanted to give Steve the option. She didn’t know what kind of music he liked.

Steve looked between the two and then flashed one of his goofy smiles. “Got any Jimmy Eat World or AFI?”

Claire blinked a few times, almost taken aback. Who didn’t love Queen? “I....don’t think so. Do you wanna see what we have?”

“Yeah. Do you mind?” He propped himself up a bit further, careful not to stress his broken bones.

Claire shrugged lightly, trying to not be disappointed. She could listen to music any time she wanted, she told herself. This time should be spent getting to know Steve – it might help her work through some of her feelings. She dusted off the small stack of CDs, bringing it over to Steve to inspect.

Steve ran his finger down the plastic spines of the cases, his finger leaving a line behind in the dust. He grimaced and wiped it on his blankets before deciding. He held up a CD with a dark blue background. “How about Nirvana?”

Claire contemplated for a moment but gave a nod. She wasn’t into the modern era of music as much, but Nirvana was something she appreciated. Not as much about Queen, but she was glad that they had at least somewhat of the same music taste. “….Good choice.”

She skimmed the back of the case as the guitar riffs signaled the start of the album. She was familiar with a handful of the songs – some more than others – and some she doubted she’d ever heard. She moved to the music for a moment, feeling a happiness begin to balloon inside her that she had not felt in a long time. Music was something that was incredibly special to her – all of those months without it had been hard on her.

“It’s a little… harder than I’m used to.” Claire admitted, turning back to Steve with a smile.

“Yeah, what do you usually listen to?” He handed the rest of the CDs back to her.

“Rock, classic rock.” She mused. “I like a lot of the same music as my brother. I like a little bit of punk rock, too. Used to paint my nails black in high school.”

“I like… grunge, and emotional hardcore.” He flipped his hair lightly as if to punctuate his sentence. “Cold wave. Stuff like that.” He smiled at her last statement and added a shy, “Me too.”

“You used to paint your nails?”

“Yeah.” He smiled but it faded quickly. It all seemed so far away now. “My Father hated it.”

Claire saw the way he grimaced at the mention of his Dad. “…I’m sorry, Steve.”


	7. love always tears you apart

Claire admired her work, looking around the living room with her arms folded over her chest. It felt _good_ to clean – she’d even wiped down the stove and cleaned the shower which had so desperately needed it. She wasn’t the cleanest person before Raccoon City but maybe there was some good to come out of it.

“What do you think?” She smiled. “Looks pretty good, huh?”

“Yeah.” Steve agreed. She even opened the windows for fresh air. He liked that the most. Well, aside from getting to watch Claire wiggle to the music as she cleaned, anyways. It seemed like they were both acclimating, bit by bit, every day. He was thankful.

A grumble from Claire’s stomach made her flush a bit, clasping her hand to her stomach. She still wasn’t exactly used to eating three square meals a day yet. “You hungry?”

“I could eat.” Steve pulled the now nearly thawed peas from his ribs. “These need to go back too.”

“Anything you’re in the mood for?”

Steve gave a small smile like he’d been thinking about it. “Bacon?”

“You can’t have just bacon for dinner.” Claire rubbed her chin for a moment, thinking of what was still stocked in the fridge. “…how about a BLT?”

“BLT, extra bacon?” He smiled again and Claire laughed. She couldn’t say no to that goofy, wide toothed grin.

-x-

The sun began to set, casting long shadows through the windows. She found herself growing anxious. When would Leon show up? What if he’d gotten tangled up at work and couldn’t come to see her? She didn’t want to seem too disappointed if he didn’t show up.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the front door. Her skin prickled as her fingers worked to unlock the multiple locks. It had seemed excessive at first, but she’d grown to be comfortable with the extra security. She threw the door open, feeling her stomach flutter as the former cop stood before her. He held a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a 6-pack of beer in the other.

“Hey.”

“Hey. You’re late.” She teased, wiggling her finger at him playfully.

He smiled. “Yeah, sorry about that. Something came up with work, had to deal with it.” He held out the flowers. “These are for you. Thought it would brighten up the place.”

  
She took the flowers from him, bringing them to her nose and taking a deep sniff. She didn’t know much about flowers, but they sure smelled good. “Thanks… I’m pretty sure I saw a vase under the sink. Come on in, I’ll introduce you to Steve.”

Steve’s face fell as Claire returned to the room, the bouquet of pink and red flowers clutched in her hand. Resentment began to bubble up, bitter in his throat like bile. He said nothing, sizing up the brunette man slowly.

“Steve, this is Leon Kennedy.” Claire stood at the foot of Steve’s bed. “He’s the one that contacted my brother and told him where we were.”

Steve was silent for a long moment. He recognized the look in Claire’s eyes as she turned to Leon. It was the same look she’d given him just before she’d kissed him. He sunk into his pillows.

“Hey.” He muttered after a moment. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m going to get these in water. I’ll be right back, Steve.”

“I’ll come with you, should put these in the fridge.” Leon held up the beer.

Steve said nothing, glaring daggers at the back of Leon’s head as he disappeared into the kitchen with Claire. He felt hot, and angry. He hadn’t known Leon was so attractive – chiseled jaw, perfect hair. It was like a punch in the gut – no wonder Claire looked at him that way. It didn’t matter how much he cared about her, there was always some other guy that was more attractive, stronger, smarter. He willed himself to disappear, sinking even further into his pillows.

In the kitchen, Claire dug the small glass vase she’d spotted while she was cleaning. She triumphantly held it up, filling it with cool water and dumping in the little plant food pack that came with it. She dropped the flowers into the water, admiring it for a moment. She rarely received flowers – usually from Chris for her birthday. She couldn’t remember the last time a real guy had given her flowers. She set them on the center of the wood dining table.

They stared wordlessly at each other for a moment and Leon wrapped his arms around Claire, pulling her close. He was larger than her, bulkier. Warm, muscles hard through his t-shirt. She relaxed into him for a moment, eyes fluttering closed.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Claire. When you emailed me from the island, I didn’t know what was going to happen.” His fingers brushed against her shoulder blade lightly.

Claire made a noise in her throat, swallowing hard and burying her face against Leon’s chest. She could smell his cologne, sweet and fresh with notes of vanilla. She didn’t remember him smelling this good in Raccoon City. She drew away after a particularly shaky breath, rubbing at her face. She didn’t want to start crying again.

“Thanks for visiting.”

“Of course, Claire.” He smiled warmly.

There was another, much shorter moment of silence as they exchanged glances before Claire finally turned back to the living room. “We should check on Steve.”

Much to Claire’s disappointment, the boy had nuzzled into his pillows and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She couldn’t help but frown, watching his chest rise and fall.

“…sorry, he’s been sleeping a lot lately.” She smiled weakly, turning to Leon. She didn’t want to risk waking him up. Steve really needed his rest. “....maybe we should visit in the kitchen?”

Steve opened his eyes, one and then the other when he realized they were back in the other room. He felt sick to his stomach and couldn’t bare looking at Leon’s stupid face for any amount of time. He stared at the wall in front of him, listening intently as he heard the sound of a beer opening in the kitchen.

“Do you want one?” Leon asked, holding out the bottle to her. She hesitated. She still had Steve to take care of. She couldn’t help him out of bed if he needed it if she were drunk. Not to mention the way she cried last night after a few beers. “You’ll sleep better, I promise.”

Claire blinked a few times. She wondered if that was why she’d slept well the previous night. “That’s not healthy, is it?”

“No.” Leon shrugged, opening a second beer and passing it to Claire. She took it, reading the label. She tasted it and wrinkled her nose a bit. He laughed. “I’m not going to make you drink it.”

“It’s fine. I’ll drink it.” She took another swallow as Leon sat across from her. “Is that why you brought beer? To help me sleep?”

Leon shrugged. “I wanted to bring you something other than just flowers. Felt…” He trailed off, as though trying to settle on the right word. “Too cheesy. Besides, who doesn’t like catching up over a beer?”

“Yeah.” Claire agreed. She peeled the label slightly, letting the scrap fall on the table beside her. “…How’s Sherry?”

Something ghosted across Leon’s face that made Claire furrow her brow. “I haven’t seen her in a few weeks. She called me a few days ago, but we didn’t get to talk much.”

“Is she still under testing?” She asked, quietly. She’d hoped that things had changed since she’d left for Europe.

“Yeah. She is.” Leon couldn’t look Claire in the face. Part of him felt like he’d failed that little girl, even after doing everything feasible to keep her safe. “She’s in good spirits, though. You can come visit with me next time I see her.” He smiled softly. “She’d love that.”

“I’d love that too.” Claire mirrored his smile, weakly. “You’ll keep me updated?”

“Of course, Claire.” He leaned forward, squeezing her hand lightly.

“Thanks.” She continued to peel the label of her beer off with her thumb. She didn’t speak for another moment. “Leon?”

“Yeah?”

“What…was it like for you, after…” She trailed off, gathering her thoughts before rephrasing her question. “Did you have nightmares?”

“Oh yeah. The first week or so was... hard.” He admitted, tapping his fingernails on the glass bottle. “I was sleeping for three, maybe four hours at night – if I was lucky. It got a little easier after that. I still get them, but not as much.”

Claire sighed. She felt relieved and frustrated all at once. “I slept okay last night. I didn’t dream, though. It was like, closing my eyes and opening them back up eight hours later.”

Leon pointed a finger at her. “Did Rebecca give you those sleeping pills?”

“The white ones? Yeah. Last night was the first night that I tried them, but I had a few beers before, too. Honestly, I was thankful for the rest.” She glanced up at Leon. “Did Chris tell you? They kept me in a tiny cell. Like what you see in old movies. Iron bars. Mildew. Two weeks. I thought I might die there.” She couldn’t stop herself, the words coming at a pace so quickly she was sure they were beginning to run together. 

Leon brushed his fingers against her hand again, squeezing. “Claire, you’re safe now. You don’t have to stress about any ‘could have’ or ‘what if’ scenarios.”

Claire cleared her throat, draining the last of her beer. She drew her hand away from Leon. “….yeah.” She stood and fumbled in the fridge for a second drink, wanting the ache deep inside to stop. Even just for a while. She opened the second beer and took a swig before re-joining Leon at the table. She took the seat beside him this time. “Sorry. It’s just like, running on loop, in my head.”

“Claire, it’s fine. I’m here for you. You have a lot of people here for you. The first handful of days are the worst, but you’ll be okay. You’re tough.” He squeezed her shoulder this time.

Steve listened to every word from the living room. He should be the one comforting her. He should be the one bringing her flowers, taking care of her. But instead he was bedridden, relying on the girl to take care of everything for him. He felt tears spark behind his eyes – hot.

-x-

Claire’s head held a dull pounding as she awoke the next morning, like her brain had swollen and was pressing against her scalp. She sighed, which only served to make it throb. Her memory of the night was spotty, the last thing she could clearly remember being hugging Leon goodnight.

She’d offered the spare bedroom to him, since it was empty. It was safer than him getting on the road after drinks. It made her feel…. safe, knowing Leon was under the same roof.

She flopped over onto her back, kicking herself for not drinking enough water. It had just been too easy to talk to Leon, and as the booze flowed, so did their conversation. They’d talked about Ada, about Raccoon City, about life after. Leon’s new job, his new apartment. His love life – she was surprised to find out he was still single. He blamed it on work, but she wasn’t so sure.

After a few moments of considering going back to sleep, she dragged herself out of bed. She needed to chug some water and maybe take some aspirin. She needed to check on Steve, too. Sure, he’d seemed to be sound asleep when she’d checked on him last, before stumbling to bed, but that meant he was probably awake now.

She paused in the kitchen, filling up a glass with cool water and swallowing it greedy gulps.

Claire felt a small pang of guilt as she came across Steve already awake in the living room. “Morning.”

“Morning.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep so late…. Leon and I ended up losing track of time. We were up pretty late.” She rubbed her temple lightly. “How do you feel?”

Steve sighed softly, folding his hands over his chest. He didn’t even bother to look at her this time. “Still sore.”

“Do you want breakfast? I can make eggs.” She frowned. She knew Steve was acting weird, but couldn’t pin down exactly why. 

The redhead shrugged lightly. “Whatever. I’m not really hungry.”

Claire’s frown deepened and she sat beside him on the mattress. “What’s up, Steve?”

His eyes flicked up to her finally. “You smell like alcohol.”

She felt her face get red. “Sorry.” She covered her mouth. “…Leon and I had a bit much to drink last night after you went to sleep.”

Steve felt another pang of jealousy. He desperately wanted to change the subject. “Eggs sound good.”

Claire tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Eggs and bacon?”

Another roll of his shoulders. “That’s fine.”

Claire studied his face for a moment, wishing he would tell her what was wrong. “Okay. Hang tight.” She squeezed his arm lightly as she stood, disappearing into the kitchen.

She was in the middle of preparing breakfast as Leon emerged from the extra bedroom. She glanced at Leon as he passed her. “Hey, I’m making breakfast. Do you want scrambled eggs and bacon?”

“That sounds great, Claire.” Leon stretched his arms over his head, causing his deep blue t-shirt to expose a bit of his stomach. “Thanks. I’m gonna grab a shower, if you don’t mind.”

“You know where it is.” She flashed a quick smile at him, turning her attention to the stove.

Steve’s eyes widened as Leon emerged from the back of the house. They followed him until the older man closed the door behind him. He could hardly hear the water running over the sound of his heart beating in his ears.

“Claire?” He called, the questions swirling inside his head.

“You okay?” She frowned, poking her head around the corner.

“….did Leon spend the night with you?” He asked softly.


	8. the world thinks i'm a mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno, this chapter is short! I'm trying to get to a good place without doing a time jump.
> 
> steve's a brat lol

“Yeah, I mean, I told him to crash here….” Claire looked at him, narrowing her eyes slightly. She tried to read his face – was he jealous? “…but we didn’t do anything.” She added on after a moment.

Steve fell silent again. The image of Leon – stronger, bigger, better looking than him – wrapped around Claire in bed burned into his mind. “….oh.” He felt sick all over again. He felt liable to either throw up or cry, but he wasn’t sure which.

She felt another pang of guilt, remembering the way Leon had made her feel the night before. It was an entirely different feeling than she felt when she was with Steve and she didn’t know what to make of it. She felt pulled in both directions.

She felt like she should apologize to him, all while knowing she didn’t do anything _wrong._ As much as she cared about him and as much as he loved her, rushing into something with anyone was not what she wanted for herself right now. She needed to be in a healthier place before that was something she even thought about seriously.

“Steve…” She stared at him for a moment, her voice softening. “Are you jealous?”

“No.” He said, but the way he turned his face away from her and folded his arms over his body told her otherwise.

“Listen….” She touched his elbow gingerly. “Don’t be. Steve, you mean so much to me. You don’t have anything to worry about between Leon and I. Okay?”

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but he’d seen Leon with his own two eyes. He’d seen the way she looked at him, heard the way she talked to him. The way she laughed. “Okay. What’s for breakfast?” He gave a weak smile.

Breakfast went relatively smoothly, thankfully. Leon and Steve even shared some conversation and the younger boy seemed to loosen up by the end. Neither seemed to mind the overly crispy bacon, either. Claire wasn’t sure if they were just being polite, though.

Leon offered to stay and do the dishes, but Claire insisted she would worry about them later. She really couldn’t leave the house, she figured she might as well give herself a to-do list.

There was a silence for a short while after Leon left – heavy on her chest and almost suffocating. It was as if they were back to square one – unsure and uncomfortable of how to react to each other. She didn’t like the guilt buried in her stomach and she hated seeing the hurt so plain on Steve’s face.

Claire could tell Steve still felt uneasy about Leon. She understood – to a degree. _She_ didn’t even know how she felt about Leon, if she were being entirely honest. There was a fuzzy memory of a goodnight kiss the night prior and she definitely lingered too long when she hugged him goodbye. At no point had she had the thought to bring him to bed with her, or join him in the spare room.

“What’s up? You wanna talk about it?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Steve’s response was almost immediate, refusing to look her in the eye. He stared at the opposite wall, arms folded over his chest. He felt silly for trusting her, for letting himself get so comfortable. _People will just disappoint you._ He thought, bitterly.

“Really.” He added after a moment of silence, eyes flickering over her. He couldn’t hide the sorrow in his voice. He wore his heart on his sleeve and had never been good at faking emotions.

“Are you sure? You can talk to me, you know.”

He shrugged lightly, adjusting his blankets absently. “I’m fine, really.” He dropped his voice a few octaves, hardly above a whisper. _I’m used to being on my own. I don’t need anyone to take care of me._

She studied his face for a moment. She knew he was lying.

“I said I’m fine, Claire.” He shifted lightly, pressing his palm against his ribs.

She sighed and stood after a moment. She didn’t really believe him, but just didn’t have the energy to drag it out of him. She sighed and stood, rubbing her palms together as if to signal she were letting it go.

“Okay. Well I’m gonna get the kitchen cleaned up.” 

She saved the leftover scrambled eggs in a small plastic container and tucked them into the fridge. She would find a use for them and she hated wasting food – especially now. She wrapped a few pieces of her overly crispy bacon in a piece of white bread. It was one of her brother’s favorite ways to eat left over bacon – it was always better fresh. She poured another helping of coffee into her mug and drank it – black and bitter.

She was thankful when Rebecca popped in to check on both of them. It helped alleviate some of the tension that had built over the afternoon – all of their interactions short with an overhang of sourness from Steve’s side.

“How are you feeling today, Steve?” Rebecca smiled warmly as she checked Steve’s vitals. His heart rate, while a little high today, was nothing to worry about. His wounds were mostly healing quickly, even the bruising on his torso beginning to lighten and shrink. “How’s the pain level?”

_I’m broken, not good enough._ He wanted to say, but shrugged instead. “Fine, I guess. A little sore.” He was quiet for a moment before he added, “Can’t wait until I can walk again.”

“I’d really like to wait a few more days until we got you mobile.” Rebecca murmured, administering hopefully his last dose of antibiotics. “You should be able to come off of the IV in the next day or two and then it’ll be a lot easier to move around.” She smiled softly. “The truth is that you’re healing wonderfully, Steve.” She couldn’t help wonder if the remnants of the T-Virus strain was helping move that along quicker. There wasn’t exactly any research (that she was aware of, at least) about infection in healthy hosts. She wanted to get him back to the lab for tests as soon as he was able.

Steve seemed to perk up at that. “Really?”

“Well, it all depends on what you’re feeling like in a few days. But, tentatively, yes.”

“Will I be able to take a shower?” He grew visibly excited at the idea. The sponge bath had helped, quite a bit – but there was no substitute for a real shower.

“If you promise to be extra careful and minimize the amount of time with your brace off, yes.” She smiled. “If you and Claire are both feeling up to it.” She added after a moment.

Steve grinned in response. The prospect of a shower had changed his whole mood. Claire was glad – partly because she was just thankful he’d stopped pouting, to tell the truth.

Rebecca smiled again. “Something to look forward to, then.” She turned her attention to Claire next. “Have those sleeping pills been working for you?”

“Yeah, actually.” She’d slept the last two nights with no issue – no dreams, either, but she didn’t seem to think that was worth mentioning to the medic. “I’ve slept really well the last few nights. It’s really nice.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Do you have any questions for me before I go?”

“I think everything’s fine here. Thank you, Rebecca.” Claire smiled, watching the former S.T.A.R.S. member pack her supplies back up and sling her bag over her shoulder.

Steve heard the door close and the locks latch. He swore he heard Claire sigh and there was a long moment before she resurfaced in the living room.

“You hear that? You’re gonna be as good as new soon.”

Steve snorted. “I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as new.”

She couldn’t help but give a short laugh at that. “…You’re so stubborn, Steve.”


	9. i have no more fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get into this 'posting regularly' thing. I either sit and write three chapters in a night or a struggle to write 300 words haha. I guess that's just how it be, sometimes.
> 
> thanks for reading and leaving kudos!!! all of your comments are so so so so appreciated!

The next few days were wholly unremarkable. Chris and Rebecca made their usual visits to check up on the pair. No nightmares to speak of. Claire was thankful for that. It finally felt like things were starting to get back to normal.

There was still some awkwardness and tension, thanks to Steve sighing and generally making his unhappiness known. Claire filled the heavy silence with music which seemed to help a little bit, until it was Steve’s turn to pick and he undoubtedly decided on something with sad lyrics.

Chris brought a batch of fresh groceries the evening of the second day – Claire was most excited about the small cheesecake at the bottom of the paper bag. Four pieces, plenty to share with Steve. She felt a bit of excitement as she tucked the plastic container into the fridge as a surprise for later. Maybe some sweets would cheer him up.

Rebecca kept her promise on the third day, bringing a pair of shiny silver crutches by the evening of the second day to help Steve get around. She let them lean against the wall closest to his bed.

Claire had to excuse herself as Rebecca removed his IV. She didn’t handle blood well – which was incredibly ironic to say the least. She’d seen and dealt with more blood than most soldiers saw in combat but it still made her woozy.

She busied herself with planning dinner – a quick rifle through the fridge turned up two decent steaks Chris had brought as well as some fresh asparagus and another package of bacon. Easy but delicious, she decided.

She hardly glanced up as she saw a figure on the edge of her vision. She assumed it was Rebecca, pulling a knife out and beginning to prepare the asparagus. She glanced up after a moment, a bit startled to see Steve making his way into the kitchen on crutches.

Claire made a noise – a laugh mixed with a gasp. She felt tears spark in her eyes. Even though Rebecca had said he was healing beautifully, a part of her had expected to find him unresponsive every morning. She always had that thought in the back of her head – he could take a turn for the worse at any moment. But, every day he got a little better and she worried a little less.

He grinned at her, coming to a stop on the cheap linoleum. He balanced somewhat precariously on the rubber tips of the crutches, feeling the slightly soft pads digging into his under arms. He paid no mind to it, enjoying being upright for the first time in nearly a week.

“Wow.” Claire stared him for a moment as if nothing else mattered. She tore her eyes away from him after a moment, leaning on the sink and rubbing hard at her eyes.

Rebecca followed him after a moment with a smile. She seemed proud.

“Should make both of your lives easier.” She said with a nod, surveying Steve. “Just….make sure you don’t put too much stress on your knee or your ribs, okay?”

“Okay.” Steve’s grin didn’t waver. He was practically glowing.

“I’d also prefer if you minimized time on your feet for the next few days.”

The boy gave a sigh, his shoulders drooping lightly with her comment. “Fine…”

“Really, Steve.” Rebecca pointed a finger at him. “You’re going to be very sore for a while as your muscles acclimate. I want you to take it easy.”

Claire cleared her throat, trying to shift the conversation forward. She didn’t need another reason for Steve to pout longer. “Looks like you can finally get that shower tonight. And I’m making steak for dinner. To celebrate.” She smiled.

Steve practically did two laps around the safe house, exploring. In as many days he’d spent in bed there, he’d really only seen the interior of the living room and the bathroom. The views were beginning to get stale.

He poked his head into the bedroom Claire was calling her own. The sheets were messy, pushed to the bottom of the bed. The flowers Leon had brought her sat on her bedside table, beginning to wilt. He felt a small pang of jealousy in his stomach again. He pushed the thought from his mind, hobbling back through the kitchen and pointing to a second door. 

“What’s that?”

“Spare bedroom.” Claire smiled softly, chopping the asparagus in half. She wanted to get it marinating for a bit before dinner. She assumed he would be asking her for a shower any minute now.

Steve frowned softly. “Spare bedroom?”

“Well yeah. There’s the one I’m crashing in, and then that one.” She jerked her thumb to the door. He was silent for a moment, gaze following her thumb. He hadn’t realized there were _two_ bedrooms.

The question passed his lips before he realized it. “What room did Leon sleep in?”

Claire sighed. She had been hoping he had gotten over that. “The spare room.” She didn’t even glance at him this time, coating the greens in a mixture of seasonings and olive oil.

Steve felt his jealousy mingle with a pang of guilt. “…I thought there was just one bedroom.”

“There’s two.” She shrugged lightly, covering the shallow dish with foil and placing it into the fridge. She washed her hands, turning to face him. “Rebecca thought it would be easier to get you set up in the living room at first. Closer to the bathroom, easier to get around you.

Steve hobbled over to the dining table, pulling one of the mismatched chairs out before taking a seat. His underarms ached dully from the crutches pressing into them. He looked around the kitchen – pale yellow walls decorated with white molding along the ceiling and floor.

“Sorry. For being jealous.” He said as he ran one of his fingers over the wooden table, tracing a small groove in the wood.

Claire chuckled softly, brushing his hair from his face. “Does that mean you’re gonna stop pouting?” She teased. He sighed but leaned into her hand. She smiled. “How about we get you showered before dinner?”

Claire spread out an extra towel in front of the shower, placing the plastic stool she’d managed to find tucked in a closet on the shower floor. She tested the water, turning it on and sticking her fingers underneath the faucet. It cascaded down and hit the floor and the stool. She smiled, turning to Steve.

“Alright. Hot?”

“Please.” He found himself growing more and more excited. If there was one single thing he’d been looking forward to since waking up in Rebecca’s triage it was a long, hot shower.

She fiddled with the knobs, testing it with her fingers as it heated up until it was a comfortable temperature. She wiped her fingers on her jeans to dry them.

“Do you need help getting undressed?” She asked. He nodded, almost shamefully. He wasn’t _really_ sure if he needed her help or really just wanted her skin brushing against his. “Alright, arms up.”  
He obeyed, lifting his arms up. His t-shirt was peeled off of his skin and tossed into the hamper beside him.

“Your bruises look a lot better.” Claire brushed the back of her fingers lightly over the bruising. It had lightened from a deep purple to an unappealing mix of red and yellow. He didn’t even wince this time.

“They feel better.” He admitted, feeling a shiver run up his spine. He felt a heat begin to spark in his core. Being this close to Claire as she undressed him was beginning to stir… feelings. Next came the brace, laying it across the sink to let it air out. She turned to him again, now wearing only his underwear.

Her eyes flicked down. “Do you want me to…” She brushed her fingers against the waistband of his boxers.

“Please.” He breathed, feeling his face burn. He hoped she wouldn’t notice that he was half hard. Just being this close to her in such an intimate setting proved difficult.

Claire’s fingers hovered for a second before tucking into the elastic. She pulled them off with a quick motion, averting her eyes. She kept her vision focused on one of the tiles in the shower as she helped him maneuver onto the stool in the shower.

He sighed as the water began to wash over him. He closed his eyes, using his arm to steady himself as he leaned further back into the water.

Claire found her vision lingering for a second before she covered her eyes and took a few steps back. The last thing she wanted was to make him uncomfortable.

“Call me when you’re done, okay? Don’t try to get up on your own.”

“Yeah.” He promised, just enjoying the water as it ran over his skin.

She left the door cracked as she left him alone in the shower.

Steve fumbled for the bottle of shampoo, squirting enough in his palm that it ran down one side of his hand. He lathered it in his hair, working the suds with his fingers. They ran down his body in little streams as they washed down the drain. He squinted at a bottle filled with orange liquid – face wash, the label said.

He pumped two full pumps into his palm, lathering it in his hands before smearing the foam on his face. He worked it in small circles, leaning back under the water after a moment.

He brought the body wash to his nose and gave a squeeze, enjoying the scent. He recognized it as the same stuff Claire had used for his sponge bath. Slightly fruity and sweet, a little more feminine than he would’ve chosen but he wasn’t complaining. He squeezed quite a bit into his palm, starting at his chest and working his way down.

He could tell which cuts that weren’t healed as well as the water and bubbles hit them, stinging a bit. The water running off of him was an unappealing gray-brown, not unlike dishwater. No wonder Claire hadn’t wanted to touch him.

His hands worked down his torso, making sure to be extra gentle around his broken ribs. The last he’d seen the bruises they were deep so he was thankful that they had lightened up considerably. He applied the smallest bit of pressure and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t hurt. Maybe he _was_ actually making progress.

Steve’s hand wrapped around his still half-hard self, squeezing lightly as he worked the soap across his skin. The warm water felt downright luxurious, cascading over his thighs. He found himself rolling his hips into his hand and drew away, exhaling a shuddering breath. He wanted to take the time to get re-acquainted with his body, but didn’t want to make Claire suspicious. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was desperate.

He was careful as he washed around his knee, examining the mild swelling and bruising. The break here was a lot less visible but hurt a lot deeper. Before this, he’d never broken a bone. It was a strange experience, to say the least.

The water began to run cold by the time he called for Claire again. He finally felt human again.

He heard the door hinges squeak and he covered himself with his hands to save them both the embarrassment. Claire peeked through her fingers around the door, thankful that he wasn’t entirely exposed.

She fumbled for a towel, handing it to him. He draped it across his waist to replace his hands.

“Can we put my brace back on?”

“Now?” Claire felt her face get hot again. She almost felt like he was trying to tease her.

“Please.”

She sighed softly and retrieved the brace. In all honesty, it would probably be easier to move him without worrying about bumping his knee. She took the edge of the towel, patting his knee gently to make sure it was dry before wrapping the brace around.

Steve sucked in a breath through his teeth as she fastened it around his knee. It hurt a bit.

“Thanks.” He smiled weakly.

“Of course.” She stood again, extending a hand to help him up. He took it, carefully as he pulled himself into a standing position. He wobbled lightly, causing Claire’s hands to shoot out to steady him. One on his bare shoulder and the other on his hip. His skin was soft and slick from the shower.

His face burned as his eyes flicked up to meet Claire’s. “I’m okay.” He murmured.

“Are you sure?” She asked, her hands firmly planted on him.

His face split into a grin. “I mean, I’m not going to complain if you wanna touch me, Claire.”

She laughed, but let her fingers linger on his hips.

Steve was very excited to find the fresh set of clothing on the foot of his bed. Clean, light gray sweat pants, a maroon t-shirt with a v-neck and a pair of fresh boxers. He was thankful because he didn’t think he could squeeze back into the same clothes he’d been wearing.

“Can you get dressed by yourself?” She asked, gently lowering him onto the mattress.

“Y’don’t wanna help?” He flashed another grin. She wasn’t sure if he was flirting for compensating with humor – he had a penchant to do both.

“Do you want me to help?”

“Yes.” He answered, almost immediately. He kept a tight hold of the towel clasped around his waist. He was acutely aware of a few spare beads of water running down his chest.

“Because you can’t do it on your own? Or…” She trailed off, cocking an eyebrow.  
Steve felt his face get hot and he looked away from her. He hesitated for a moment before licking his lips. “Please.”

“Mr. Burnside, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were flirting with me.” A sly smile pulled at the corner of her lips. She began with the boxers, shaking them out before bending and slipping them over his feet. He opened the towel and raised his hips slowly to help accommodate her movements.

She wasn’t sure if she was hearing her heartbeat or his pounding in her ears. Being this close to the boy, there was no telling. She found herself placing a soft kiss on his shoulder as she fumbled for the t-shirt. He put his arms up without prompting this time, allowing her to easily pull the garment over his head. Her fingers brushed lightly against his navel as the waistband of his boxers met the bottom hem of the t-shirt.

She admired the way the top fit on him. It was much tighter than the clothes he wore before. It clung to his still damp skin. He wasn’t particularly muscular, but he was very well toned. His collar bone peeked out just slightly under the v-neck. She found herself licking her lips as she reached for the sweats.

Once he was dressed, she took a step back to admire her work. His hair, now beginning to dry, still clung to his forehead.

“Better?”

“Better.” He grinned. He honestly felt like a different person. It was wonderful what a long, hot shower could do for one’s morale. He heard his stomach growl and his smile faded a bit, sheepishly. “What were you saying about steak earlier?”


	10. demons everywhere deep inside a girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the kudos & comments, folks! Still makes my day when someone takes the time to let me know they enjoyed my fic.
> 
> I'm just still obsessed and in my feelings over this ship. I've just always wanted to write this and I've never gotten around to it.
> 
> :)
> 
> Sexy stuff happening soon. Keep an eye out!!

Claire happily set Steve up in the kitchen as she finished preparing dinner. She rubbed the steaks down in spices – garlic, salt and pepper with a dash of soy sauce. She tossed them in the largest skillet she’d managed to find. As they began to cook and sizzle, she pulled a small dish and began to mix homemade garlic butter. It was another recipe Chris had taught her. The work was a little more than she preferred to do on a ‘weekday evening’ but it really felt like a night to celebrate.

She’d unplugged the stereo and brought it into the kitchen with them for ambiance, not affording him the option to pick the music. She put on her favorite Queen album – Made in Heaven. It really did feel like home with Freddie Mercury’s vocals filling the kitchen as she cooked.

Steve watched her from the table, his leg propped up on one of the extra chairs. It just felt good to be out of bed, if he were to be honest. But there was something about the way Claire measured, mixed and moved in the kitchen that he found fascinating.

His mother had been a decent cook, sure. But there was something about Claire’s cooking that was just better, somehow. He wondered if her brother were as good as a chef. He watched intently as Claire peeled bacon from the package and wrapped it around individual pieces of asparagus, securing it with a toothpick. He liked the little knit she got in her brow when she was concentrating.

She slid the newly bacon wrapped vegetables into the already pre-heated oven, washing her hands with soap and water before tending to the steaks.

“Where’d you learn to cook?” Steve finally asked, his palm pressed to his face with his elbow resting on the table.

“Oh, Chris taught me.” She smiled. “Just like he taught me how to fight and how to read a map and a bunch of other stuff, too. After our parents died, he wanted to make sure I could protect myself if I needed to.” She flipped the steaks in the pan, causing a bit of steam to rise from the skillet as it cooked.

“Your parents are dead, too?” He asked, softer this time.

“Yeah.” Claire leaned on the counter. “I mean, it was a long time ago. Years ago, now. I miss them, but….” She trailed off.

“But?”

“I mean… I’ve got this whole new family.” She shrugged lightly. “I’ve got you and Chris, Leon, Rebecca. Jill’s always been like a sister. Not to mention the Burtons. Kathy and Barry kind of became like, surrogate parents after mine passed.” She smiled, thinking of the summers spent at the Burton Residence. Despite the age difference, she’d grown quite close with Moira. “I miss my parents, every day. But there are so many people in my life that are dear to me.”

Steve smiled softly. He liked hearing Claire talk about her background and her life before all of this happened. Really, he just liked listening to Claire talk. He liked her voice and the inflections she placed on her words.

The timer she’d set on the stove made a soft _ding_ and she opened the oven, checking on the asparagus. She closed the oven again and added a few more minutes to the timer.

“How do you like your steak?”

Steve cocked an eyebrow. “How do you like _yours?”_

“Well, when I was younger I liked them rare.” She mused, flipping the steaks over again. “These days I don’t think I could handle anything less than medium.” She took a large dollop of her garlic butter mixture, dropping it down on the center of each steak. It sizzled as it dripped down into the hot pan. “Is that alright with you?”

“Honestly I’m just excited for steak.” Steve grinned. It had been so long he would’ve been happy with a mediocre chain restaurant steak. “And I trust you.”

Claire plated dinner and served Steve his plate. He grinned at her as she did, admiring the job she’d done with the food.

“This looks great, Claire. Thank you.”

“Of course.” She ruffled his hair lightly and took one of the seats beside him. “There’s plenty of asparagus left, if you’re still hungry after that.”

Steve picked up his knife and fork. It felt good to eat at an actual table instead of balancing his plate precariously on his knee. He cut into the steak, watching a small stream of garlic butter trickle down. He shoved too large of a bite into his mouth, chewing it thoughtfully before giving a soft sound of approval.

Claire laughed, cutting a small piece off her own steak to try. It was good – cooked almost the entire way through without being dry. There was a part of her that missed the steaks rare and on the bloody side but she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to go back to that.

“Not bad, huh?” She smiled.

“Y’such a good cook, Claire.” He grinned.

After dinner, Claire cleared the dishes. She saved the leftovers in the fridge as she had for breakfast. She tossed the dishes in the sink for later. She’d deal with them in the morning.

Steve sighed, patting his stomach. He was so full he felt sleepy.

“No room for dessert?” Claire asked innocently. “I’ve got some cheesecake here that Chris brought yesterday…”

Steve perked up at the idea of dessert. He’d been nearly ecstatic on Rockfort when he’d come across an actually stocked vending machine only to find no money in his pocket. He missed a lot of things while he was locked up in that prison, but sweets were towards the top of that list.

“I’ve got room.” He assured her. His face lit up as she plated two pieces of cheesecake to share. One ‘death by chocolate’, as the package said and the other a run of the mill strawberry.

“Which one do you want?” He asked, looking between the two pieces in front of him as Claire handed him a clean spoon.

“I thought we could share both.”

Steve couldn’t help but grin again. “You have the best ideas.”

She laughed, sinking her spoon into the slimmest part of the chocolate piece. She brought it to her mouth, savoring the creaminess. She made a soft noise, not unlike a groan.

The boy wet his lips, digging into the strawberry. His eyes flicked into the back of his head for a moment. The syrup drizzled on the top was just a little tangy, mingling with the sweetness of the cream cheese.

Claire giggled softly, dipping her spoon back into the chocolate slice.

“Taste this one.” She smiled, cupping her hand underneath the spoon as she lifted it to Steve’s mouth. He felt his face flush as he tasted. He felt his stomach flutter and he had a moment where wished Claire had been feeding him the last few days.

“Oh, that one’s good too.” Steve’s tongue darted out over his bottom lip.

They savored each other’s company and dessert until the plate was clean. Claire leaned back into her chair with a sigh.

“I’m too full.”

“Me too.” Steve agreed, resting a hand on his stomach. He couldn’t remember the last time he had stuffed himself like that. He tried to stifle a yawn but failed.

“Sleepy?”

“Yeah.” He admitted. He’d exhausted more energy than he’d care to admit between exploring the house and taking a long shower. The last dose of herbs she’d given him sometime around noon had entirely worn off, leaving his body a bit sore after all of the excitement. It felt nice, if he were telling the truth.

“It is getting late.” Claire peered at the time on the stove as she dropped the last dish in the sink. Almost Midnight.

Steve nuzzled into his sheets. He was genuinely happy for the first time in a very long time. He was asleep before he knew it, drifting off listening to Claire tell a story about her brother.

Claire happily climbed into bed after Steve fell asleep. She was emotionally drained – the highs of the day had wiped her out. She meant to take the pills Rebecca had given her, really. But as she found herself dozing off naturally, she decided one night without them wouldn’t hurt.

She jolted awake in bed, eyes adjusting to the pitch black room. A thin layer of sweat clung to her brow. She didn’t know what time it was, but it was still dark outside.

“So much for sleep.” She murmured into the air. She sighed, resigning herself to have to lay there for the rest of the night. Taking one of the sleeping pills now seemed like a waste – Steve would likely be awake in a few hours and she didn’t want to leave him without help. Those pills undoubtedly knocked her out for a full eight hours or more. As she shifted positions, she swore she saw a faint red glow coming from the corner of her room.

She frowned and squeezed her eyes shut, wondering if she were imagining it. She swallowed hard, slowly turning her head towards the doorway and made out a tall figure standing in front of her door watching her sleep. The figure was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

“Steve?”

A low laugh, followed by the sounds of knuckles popping lightly. Claire’s blood ran cold as she outline take a few steps toward her. Broad shoulders clad in black leather, slow and deliberate steps. She could smell his cologne from here – Albert Wesker.

She tried to scramble to her feet to arm herself, but her limbs wouldn’t co-operate. They were heavy, like she’d been sedated with something. She could do nothing but watch him walk slowly towards her with that _smirk_ plastered across his face.

“I tracked Steve here. With Alexia gone, he carries the last trace of T-Veronica in his body.” Wesker loomed over her, as though he stood ten feet tall. His features were twisted as he sneered down at her, unable to move in her bed. He wrapped a gloved hand around her throat, the leather rough against her skin. He applied steady pressure to her windpipe. “A two for one special, it seems.”

She gasped and spluttered, her eyes going wide as she struggled to breathe. She couldn’t draw in breath, couldn’t make any noise with the tyrant’s heavy hand pressed against her windpipe. Black fringed her vision and the last thing she saw before succumbing to the darkness was Wesker’s smug face.

She woke up on the ground, gasping for air. Her throat seemed to hurt, as though he had actually been in her room. She didn’t even realize she was crying until a sob ripped itself from her mouth.

There was a quiet knock on the other side of her door. She clasped her hands over her mouth as another sob wracked her shoulders.

“Claire?” Came the voice from the other side of the door.

“St-eve?”

Steve took that as permission to push the door open, frowning when he found Claire on the floor beside her bed. He’d been woken up by a crash followed by a wail and had thought she’d hurt herself.

“Are you okay?” He asked, carefully limping over with one crutch tucked under his arm.

“Y-yeah.” She sniffled, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. She tried to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. Steve was fine. She was fine, too. But the tears didn’t stop coming.

Steve joined her on the floor, careful to not put weight on his bad knee. He wrapped his arms around her tight, pulling her against his chest.

“Shhhhhh, shh. It’s okay. It’s okay.” He stroked her back gently as she buried her face into his shirt. “It’s okay Claire.”

It took her much longer than she would like to admit before she could calm down; her sobs turning into whimpers, then sniffles and slowly dissipating. When she finally drew away from Steve, there were two distinct wet spots on his t-shirt from her tears.

He brushed the fringe of her bangs out of her face, eyes clearly showing his worry.

“Did you hurt yourself?” He murmured. She shook her head at first but then touched the swollen spot she’d caught on the way out of bed.

“A - little. I think…I hit my head.” She sniffled again.

“Does it hurt?”

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” She wet her lips, rubbing at her face. She was embarrassed. She hated looking weak, _feeling_ weak.

“I heard y’crying. I called your name but you didn’t answer.”

“I’m sorry.” She repeated again, trying to disperse the guilt she felt for waking him up. “….I had a bad dream.” She admitted. It felt ridiculous to say out loud, but that’s all that it was. A bad dream.

Steve frowned. “A nightmare?”

“Y-yeah. I didn’t… take the sleeping pill Rebecca gave me last night.” Another sniffle. “I’m sorry.” Her voice waivered slightly.

Steve wrapped his arms around her tighter, pulling her close. He wondered how many times she’d woken up like this, crying so hard she couldn’t breathe. He felt guilty – she’d been devoting all of her time and energy to taking care of him and he didn’t even consider she’d been barely holding it together.

“It’s okay, Claire. I’m here.” He placed a gentle kiss on her temple. “I’ve got you.”


	11. never giving up until you're back in my arms again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos!! It means the world to me, really! I am currently bouncing between this fic and some smutty fics since I've got the time (and I'm working on RCHS of course too). I've been doing 2k+ words a chapter for this so the 1.5+ words I've been writing in other fics just don't seem as long.
> 
> we're gettin to the end, folks. I'm determined to finish this before Quarantine is over. We don't have an end date yet where I am, but by the end of the month I hope. 
> 
> I officially bumped this fic up to an M rating with this chapter. Again huge shout out to @tvrs_01001 & @mrsalbertweskar for helping me on this fic and dealing with me spamming them lmao

By the time Claire had finally managed to calm down enough to try to sleep again, she could hear the birds singing outside. She thought maybe she should just start the day and deal with being tired. There was always coffee.

Steve, however, pouted at that idea.

“I was hoping maybe...” He trailed off, eyes flicking up to her bed. “We could nap for a few more hours.”

Claire was silent for a moment as though she were thinking of an excuse. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, giving a few nods of her head instead. She wasn’t expecting to fall back asleep, but it might be nice to cuddle for a bit.

She wasn’t sure if she would actually be able to sleep, but she was too drained to think of a solid excuse. Maybe she just wanted to curl up beside Steve and feel his heartbeat, listen to his breath. Maybe she just didn’t want to be alone. Either way, she climbed into bed with him.

He lay on his back, carefully stretching his bad knee out. He didn’t want to tell Claire that Rebecca was right – he ached all over. He’d been taking less and less of the herbs and had completely stopped taking the white pills; he hated the way they made him feel. Foggy.

She lay beside him. She intertwined her fingers with his, closing her eyes and just enjoying the warmth coming off of him. The body wash he’d used in the shower had mostly faded, leaving his natural scent clinging to his skin. She liked it.

She stared at the ceiling, trying to quell the left over anxiousness in her stomach. She briefly considered taking one of the little blue pills Rebecca had left her for anxiety but decided against it. She didn’t know if they would knock her out and wasn’t really up for finding out.

“Claire?”

“Hm?”

“Have you been having nightmares this whole time?”

“No.” She sighed softly, wrapping her free arm around her middle. “Just sometimes. The first few nights were the worst.”

“Is it always that bad?”

“No.” _Sometimes they’re worse._ “I didn’t deal with it as badly back in October… I had nightmares but they weren’t like this.”

“I’m sorry, Claire.” He felt genuinely bad; the entire time he’d been here, she’d been waiting on his every whim and he hadn’t so much as asked her how she was doing. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close against his body. She seemed so much smaller in his arms. He could feel the bones in her back.

She said nothing, closing her eyes and letting Steve stroke her back lightly. She breathed in deeply, letting his scent wash over her. Eventually her breath fell in time with his and she relaxed. She couldn’t remember the last time she let herself be this _close_ with someone.

“This is nice.” Steve murmured after a stretch of silence punctuated only by their breathing. There was no reply from Claire, just her steady breath. “Claire?”

Still no response. He smiled softly and kissed the top of her head. He was glad she was going to get some rest. He eventually let himself sleep, but only after admiring her sleeping form. He brushed the tip of his thumb against her lower lip. He wanted to touch every inch of her body, trailing his fingers down her jawline lightly, but decided against it in fear of waking her.

The room grew warm before Claire roused from her sleep. She woke up, past noon, groggy and covered in a light sheen of sweat. There was a slight knot in her neck from sleeping pressed up against the boy.

“Mornin’. He said softly.  
“Morning.” She murmured back, finding herself nuzzling against his chest before she was really aware of her actions. He smiled.

“You sleep okay?”

She rubbed her eyes with her knuckle. “Yeah. Did you?”

“I took a little bit of a nap, yeah.”

She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. She nuzzled into him with a soft sigh. She didn’t want to admit just how comfortable she was at this moment. There was something hot and hard against her leg that she was acutely aware of. She frowned softly, reaching down and wondering if Steve’s sweats had bunched up. She tried to smooth them with her hand only to jerk it away when she made the realization that it was in fact, not fabric she felt. 

Steve made a soft noise in his throat and felt his face get hot. He wasn’t sure if it was from the contact, the simple fact that Claire was beautiful and pressed against _him_ , or because he’d just woken up – but he was hard. He’d hoped she wouldn’t notice.

“Sorry.” She murmured, pressing her hands flat against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat.

“You don’t have to apologize for touching me, Claire.” He gave a grin despite the blush creeping across his cheeks. “Hell, I want you to touch me all you want.”

Claire wet her lips. She wanted to. She _really_ wanted to. She ignored the voice in the back of her head telling her all the reasons she shouldn’t, pressing her palm against him. She felt a spark of arousal.

“Touch you like this?” She murmured quietly.

The boy made another soft noise in his throat, his heart pounding hard in his chest. He was finding it hard to draw breath, hardly able to focus on anything but the friction. He couldn’t believe Claire was actually touching him.

It all happened so fast; she was telling him to roll over one minute and climbing on top of him the next. With a couple layers of clothing between the both of them, she rolled her hips against him slowly. She leaned down, peppering kisses on his jawbone and then his mouth. He moaned softly into her mouth as she rolled her hips against him again, quicker now. 

“Ah – shit, Claire…” He gasped. Claire kissed his throat, hoping to coax more delicious sounds from him. His soft, breathy little whines and moans as she moved against him set a fire in her core. She didn’t know how badly she needed this kind of connection.

“Hm?” She asked with a soft smirk, teeth grazing his lower lip again. She loved what this position was doing to her; she felt confident and in charge as he could do nothing but enjoy the lovely friction between them.

He swallowed another moan, starting to roll his hips against her in time. He could feel the heat radiating from between her legs and it only served to make him even harder. He half wondered if he was dreaming.

The boy’s breathing grew erratic quickly, thrusting against her blindly now. There was a familiar knot growing in his stomach. He tried to concentrate on something else but he found it too difficult as Claire fumbled another kiss on his mouth. He loved the way she tasted, the way her tongue flicked against his. It made him burn, made his toes curl.

“Ah, Claire-“ He whimpered again, wrapping one of his hands around her backside. He squeezed it, enjoying the way her skin yielded to his palm.

Claire giggled and went to kiss his jawbone again when a knock on the bedroom door caused her to practically fling herself off the bed. She stood on shaking legs, like a teenager that had been caught with a boy in her room. Which, technically, she kind of was. There was a shameful look plastered on her face.

“Stay there for a sec,” She murmured, adjusting her pajama bottoms before peeking out around the door, carefully. She half expected to see Albert Wesker standing there but relaxed when it was just Chris.

“Oh, hey.”

“Hey.” Chris tried to peer around Claire, a bit suspicious. “Is Steve in there too?”

“W-we were napping.” She explained, stepping out of her room. She closed the door behind her to make sure Steve had some privacy and to keep Chris from asking more questions.

“It’s past noon.” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Oh. I didn’t know.” She pulled her ponytail down, running her fingers through it to smooth it. “…didn’t sleep last night. Had a bad dream.” Her eyes flickered up to Chris. She eyed the coffee pot on the kitchen counter and immediately busied herself with it. She didn’t want to look her brother in the eye right now.

“So you two both napped in the middle of the day huh?” Chris couldn’t help but smirk. He had a feeling that’s exactly the opposite of what they were doing.

Claire sighed softly, filling the pot with water. “Kinda, yeah. It was light out when I woke up the first time.” She measured and poured the beans, keeping her eyes focused on the task at hand. “Steve heard me crying and came to check on me.”  
“I thought you weren’t having the nightmares anymore.” Chris laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, Claire.”

“I wasn’t.” She tried to say as matter-of-factly. The image of the Tyrant with his hand wrapped around her throat again flashed in her mind. “…I dreamed about Wesker. That he… tracked Steve here. He was gonna kill me, too.”  
Chris’s grip on her shoulder tightened. “I’m sorry.” His voice was much softer this time. “But you have no reason to worry. This place is a secret, even from him. I won’t let anything happen to you two while you’re here, I promise.”

“Thanks.” She gave a weak smile.

“I just swung by because I was in the neighborhood. I called but no one answered. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Didn’t mean to interrupt anything, though.”

“You didn’t.” She said too quickly.

He chuckled. “I’m meeting Jill for lunch, though, so I gotta get going.” He opened his arms for a hug. His younger sister hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her so tight she heard a few joints pop.

Claire locked the door behind him, watching him from the window as he got back into his jeep and backed out of the driveway. She watched him turn the corner before hurrying back to the bedroom.

“Sorry.” She smiled sheepishly at Steve who had managed to prop himself up against the pillows. “That was my brother.” She joined him on the bed, putting her ponytail back up. “D’you want to….?” Her eyes flicked towards his lap eagerly.

Steve looked embarrassed as he shook his head. He’d gotten so excited and so _close_ that it left him feeling sore. He didn’t know what he did wrong. “Sorry.” At least he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

“It’s okay.” She furrowed her brow lightly. “Are _you_ okay?”

“I’m okay.” He nodded, averting his eyes. “…it hurts. I think I did something wrong.” He admitted, quietly. His face burned again.

Claire gave a short laugh that filled him with another wave of embarrassment.

“Oh, Steve, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to give you blue balls.”

“Huh?” He blinked a few times, bringing his attention back to her.

“Blue balls – ah, I don’t think that’s the technical name, but basically it means…” She trailed off trying to choose her words carefully. “Y’got too turned on and then we stopped.” She shrugged lightly.

She was well aware of the condition – she’d both accidentally (and sometimes on purpose) inflicted it on a few boys in high school. She did feel a little bad, though. He seemed pretty inexperienced. She would be lying if she said that didn’t excite her a little bit – she’d never had a virgin before.

“Oh.” Steve looked relieved, glancing down at himself. He was still partially hard despite not being in the mood for it anymore. “….I really liked it, though, before. What you were doing.”

“Me too.” Claire kissed him again, slipping her fingers into his hair. He kissed back, a little bit more tentatively than earlier. He seemed to have lost a bit of his confidence. She deepened the kiss, her tongue flickering over his. He made that familiar noise in his throat and Claire felt a shiver run down her spine.

“Y’gonna make it hard again.” Steve whined, breaking the kiss.

Claire laughed. “Sorry.”


	12. you helped me crawl out of the dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy I'm so excited because I'm almost done!!!
> 
> I have more kinky things to write after this, not that I haven't been loving every second of this, but I have a bunch of prompts and fics I need to write. (which you can also request anonymously here: https://curiouscat.me/Burnside_Fan) 
> 
> I think there's probably only one to two more chapters left of this one. Thanks all for reading!! Again thanks to Tiff and Jackie for helping me when I get thru it and for beta-ing as needed!!!

Steve watched Claire move around the kitchen as she cooked breakfast. He wanted to ask her to teach him too, but for now enjoyed watching her careful, calculated movements. He loved the way her pinky finger stuck out while she mixed the batter for pancakes. He liked the way she would pause and shift her weight from one leg to another as she took a gulp of her coffee followed by a satisfied exhale.

If he were being honest, he liked everything about her. Claire Redfield was perfect in his eyes. He was so glad he got a second chance – a second chance to prove to her they were meant to be, a second chance to be a normal teenager. It was like everything he prayed for while he was fading back on Rockfort. He felt incredibly lucky.

“Claire?”

“Hm?” She glanced over to him, carefully flipping a pancake and giving a small celebratory wiggle when the uncooked batter didn’t ooze all over the pan.

“Do you wish y’woulda had a normal life? I mean, before.”

Claire sipped her coffee again, mulling the question over in her head for a few moments. Of course she wondered what it was like had she not gone looking for her brother in Raccoon, or even what it would’ve been had he not left the Air Force.

“I dunno. Sometimes, sure.” She didn’t like the way now healed injuries still ached in the morning and she could’ve done without the nightmares, of course, but a ‘normal life’ would’ve meant she hadn’t met the people in her life she cared about the most. “But… I’m glad I met you.”

Steve couldn’t hide a grin. It made his heart skip a beat, the way she cast a glance to him over her shoulder as she finished her sentence. 

“I’m glad I met you, too, Claire.”

The two took their time enjoying breakfast. It was nice – talking, joking. It felt surprisingly normal – maybe for the first time in a long time. It was like things were finally starting to fall into place and she was thankful. Thankful for the safe house, for her brother and Rebecca and for Steve too.

Claire took advantage of having Steve out of bed for a while and changed the sheets on his mattress. She threw them in the hamper with the rest of their dirty clothes and put new sheets she’d found in the closet to replace them. Steve didn’t want to admit how excited he was for clean sheets.

He watched from the couch, both satisfied for the change in scenery and the view of Claire as she bent over the bed to put the fitted sheet on the mattress. It was like he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, especially after their dry humping session that morning. He wanted to touch her all over, taste every inch of her. He found his mind wandering and shook the thoughts from his head. He placed a _totally_ inconspicuous throw pillow over his lap.

Claire straightened her back, wiping the sweat off of her brow with the back of her hand and admiring her work. The bottom sheet was always the hardest but she’d managed to get it right on her second try. She finished with the top sheet and the fresh comforter, turning to Steve.

“All ready for you.” She smiled.

Steve cleared his throat, trying desperately to think of an excuse to keep him seated for the moment. He jerked his thumb to the tv set in front of him.

“Does this have cable?” He smiled weakly.

Steve flipped through the channels only half paying attention, listening to the water run in the bathroom. Honestly, he hadn’t thought much about TV since the early days of being in the Prison on Rockfort. He paused for a moment on a zombie movie and shook his head, quickly flipping a few channels to find something else. It would be a lot time before he would be able to handle those again.

The front door opened and he frowned, turning his upper body as much as he could to see who was here. He half-expected Rebecca, assuming it was time for her to check in, but wasn’t particularly surprised as Chris walked in with a small plastic bag with a pharmacy logo on it. Steve hoped it wasn’t more medication for him.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey. Didn’t expect you to be up and about,” Chris smiled softly but tried to avoid looking him in the eyes. “What are you watching?” He gestured to the TV.

“Oh, I dunno.” Steve shrugged, flipping another channel. “Kinda just channel surfing.”

Chris nodded, standing to the side of the couch and feeling a bit awkward as he watched Steve scroll though channels. “Claire in the shower?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna put this away and grab a beer and I’ll be back.”

Steve felt the color drain from his face. He knew what was coming; a lecture. Chris had caught them together in the bedroom and now he was going to get reprimanded for it. The elder Redfield disappeared into the back of the house for several minutes and resurfaced with a couple of beers.

He took the spot on the couch beside Steve, handing him one of the opened bottles. The redhead took it from him, blinking. He wasn’t old enough to drink, not even in Canada.

“Thanks?”

“Cheers, man.” Chris clinked the bottom of his bottle against the one in Steve’s hand before taking a drink.

Steve hesitated but did the same, wrinkling his nose. It was bitter and it burned his throat more than he expected. “Ah…. Good.”

The brunette chuckled. “Yeah. It’s an acquired taste. This stuff is pretty cheap too.” He admitted, taking another swallow. “Gets the job done, though.”

Steve nodded in agreement, taking another small swallow. He’d always thought his first beer would be with his Dad. He felt a wave of sadness when he realized he would never get the chance again. It still hadn’t really sunk all the way in – he had no family. He didn’t know what he would do after he was better.

“So listen,” Chris cleared his throat, staring directly at the TV and hoping this conversation would go as painlessly as possible. “My sister really cares about you.”

“I really care about her too.” He murmured without missing a beat. He didn’t know if Claire had told him exactly what happened on the Antarctic Base. 

“I just figure…. you guys are adults, right? Or close enough, anyways. With what you’ve been through… you both deserve to make your own decisions.” He shrugged, hoping that his vague statement got the point across. “…I just want you two to be safe about it.” He finally glanced to Steve to make sure the younger boy followed.

The redhead had a light blush creeping across his cheeks. This was not the conversation he’d been expecting. “Yeah.”

Chris didn’t know if t-virus infection could be transmitted sexually or not, and he wasn’t too keen on finding out. Not to mention, as much as Claire loved kids, he was pretty sure she never wanted her own. Not with Sherry and Moira and Polly in her life, anyway. He remembered when she was a sophomore in high school she came home crying after babysitting for the Burtons and swore off kids of her own.

“So…y’know, you guys just… let me know if you need anything to stay safe. Okay?” He barely waited a second for a response before offering a second “Okay.”

Steve took a large swallow of beer, the carbonation tickling his nose lightly. He said nothing but nodded.

Chris sighed with relief as Claire emerged from the bathroom. A large rush of steam from the shower rushed out of the bathroom behind her. She’d wrapped a dark towel around her otherwise naked body and had another on her head to help her hair dry.

“Oh, Hey, Chris, I didn’t hear you come in.” She smiled, noticing the two having a conversation over a beer. She felt a little bit of annoyance. She was pretty sure Steve shouldn’t be drinking in his current condition, but let it go since he’d tapered off all of the harder medications. “I’m gonna go change and I’ll join you.” She disappeared into her room.

She pulled on clean clothes, savoring the quiet time getting dressed. It really felt like one of the first days without a heavy anxiety hanging over her – she could leave Steve alone for a little bit and she didn’t worry about finding him turned.

She was genuinely happy and relaxed. She’d forgotten what it was like to not have to listen for every little noise, weapon at the ready. She hadn’t thought about the shotgun under her bed since she’d woken up from her nightmare, hadn’t worried about having to find a kitchen knife to defend herself.

She picked up her wet towels and threw them over her shoulder, spying something on her bedside table she hadn’t seen before. It was a large blue box. She raised an eyebrow, picking it up.

_Pleasure Variety Pack. 24 Lubricated Condoms._ The box proclaimed in raised letters. She couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. She flipped it over, skimming the back. Her big brother was always keeping an eye out for her.

After she was dressed (and she tucked the condoms out of sight to keep Steve from getting _too_ excited), she joined the boys in the living room.

“What are you two talking about?” She smiled, sitting beside her brother. She gave him a little bit of a look. “I don’t know if Steve should be drinking right now.”

Chris waived his hand dismissively. “Kid deserves a beer after everything he’s been through. Don’t you think?”

“Alcohol impedes healing.” She sighed. She didn’t disagree with him, but wanted him back on his feet as quickly as possible.

“Ah, it’s fine, Claire.” He patted his sister on his back. “Let him live a little.”

Claire enjoyed the time spent with Steve and her brother in the early evening. They laughed and watched TV. Told stories and jokes. Chris told his favorite stories of Claire as a child. When she was nine she received her first love letter, which she promptly corrected with red pen and handed back to the boy. When she was twelve and had her first bully and ended up in Detention for standing up for herself – Chris had always been so proud of her for that. His sister had always been capable of taking care of herself.

“Claire, do you remember your first boyfriend?” Chris asked with a grin. Claire rolled her eyes. She knew exactly where this story was going.  
“Yes.”

“And you remember how he tried to break up with you and you told him ‘that isn’t acceptable’ and negotiated to stay together for another week before you decided it wasn’t working and dumped him?”

She felt her face burn lightly, sinking into the couch. “Why don’t you just break out the baby pictures?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll bring one of the albums next time.” Chris grinned and Claire couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

Steve, however, got excited at the prospect of seeing Claire’s baby pictures. He imagined her to be a tomboy, rough and tumble, always covered in bruises and cuts. He bet she wore her hair short and played sports with the boys.

“Oh, please. I’ve gotta see that.” The redhead grinned.

-x-

It was dark out before Chris left. She’d been expecting Rebecca most of the day but assumed she’d been busy or didn’t feel as pressed to check on the pair as they both seemed to be doing well. She didn’t complain, joining Steve back on the couch after they were alone.

She snuggled against him without much though, enjoying the warmth radiating from him. She found his hand and laced their fingers together, watching whatever silly show was playing on the TV. He blinked a few times but smiled, nuzzling against her neck.

“Love you, Claire.” He murmured quietly into her scalp. She said nothing back but leaned up and captured his mouth in a kiss.


	13. there's nothing anyone can do to stop me loving you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey it's the smut chapter!

Steve sighed contentedly as he returned her kiss. He leaned back, bringing her with him as he flattened his back against the seat of the couch. He draped his arms around her waist, feeling her body rise and fall with each breath.

“Is this too much pressure on your ribs?”

“No, s’fine.” He gently stroked the exposed skin between her tank and jeans, the little curve of her back with two small dips just behind her hips. Every time he was able to touch her, his fingers found something new about her he adored.

“Good.” She smiled, kissing along his jawbone lightly, gently tracing the last yellowing remnants of the bruises across his throat. There was no image of the axe pinning him down this time, no reason for her to recoil.

“I love you, Claire.” Steve hummed again after a moment, eyes half lidded.

She said nothing in return for a moment, nuzzling against his chest.

“I’m glad you’re here, Steve.”

“Me too.” His fingers stroked the small of her back lightly, she counted his heart beats. “Claire?”

“Hm?”

“I’m a virgin.” He blurted out, as though the thought had been weighing heavy on his mind. And in truth, it had.

She laughed, causing heat to prick at his cheeks. Was it that obvious? Of course it was. She was older and she was _Claire Redfield._ No doubt she’d had guys trying to get with her all her life.

“I know.” She smiled softly. “It’s not a bad thing.” She added after a moment, watching the color rise in his cheeks.

“Y’laughed.” He murmured, the corners of his lips downturned in a something between a pout and a frown.

“Steve, you’re hard _right now_.” She teased, touching his face.

The color on his face deepened. He had been hoping she couldn’t feel the erection poking her on the inside of her thigh.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She brushed his hair out of his face. She smiled softly, thumb coming to rest on his jaw. “Do you want me to be your first?”

“Yes.” He said immediately, before she even finished her sentence. “More than anything.” His swallowed hard, his eyes studying her face for signs of it being a joke, or worse, a trap. There was still a voice in the back of his head telling him he wasn’t good enough; she deserved someone better, someone like Leon.

“I would be honored, Steve.” She kissed him on the mouth again, twisting her fingers into the his red locks. He made a soft noise of approval, returning her kiss. Her tongue flicked at his lower lip, only to retreat when he opened his mouth in permission.

She giggled softly, drawing his lip into her mouth and suckling. She heard his already shallow breath catch in his throat as he rolled his hips blindly against her looking for even the smallest bit of friction.

“Be patient.” She nuzzled against his neck after she broke away, kissing and nipping him there lightly with her teeth. “I want to take our time, make this special.”

“I’m not gonna lie, Claire,” He breathed. “I’ve thought about this a lot.”

She chuckled softly, slipping her hand up his shirt to touch him. His skin was warm and she felt it pucker into goosebumps with each brush against him. She brushed her palm against one of his nipples, feeling it harden under her hand. She drew her hand away, causing Steve to whine.

“Claire…”

“Ah, shush.” She hooked her fingers under his t-shirt hem, beginning to pull it up. He needed no instruction, lifting his arms as he’d done every time before. It felt different now as she brought her head down to his chest, placing quick kisses on the newly exposed skin.

She traced the curve of his chest, pausing to stroke the dip just under his ribs gently. She admired his well-toned chest; he was much less muscular than Leon but he still had definition. He was thin but not so thin she could see his bones. She hoped her cooking had aided that a bit, remembering for a moment what the food was like in that prison.

“Can I…. can I see yours too?” Steve asked, his voice already laced with desire.

Claire giggled softly, placing a kiss on his sternum before sitting up. She crossed her arms at the elbow and grabbed the bottom of her tank, pulling it over her head to reveal a light gray bra. It wasn’t fancy; no frills or lace. Gray cotton that framed her perky breasts perfectly.

“Wow.”

She giggled softly, thoroughly enjoying his enthusiasm. She unhooked her bra with ease, cupping it against her skin with her palms as she carefully slid the straps off her shoulders.

“Please.” Steve’s fingers brushed lightly against the back of her hand.

She smirked, half wanting to leave him waiting longer but mostly unable to deny herself the gratification. She let the bra fall, exposing her breasts to Steve. His face lit up like a kid in a candy store, mouth agape and eyes slightly glazed over.

Her skin was pale and tipped with perfect rosy little nipples. Her breasts were only a bit bigger than a proper handful, but Steve found himself practically salivating at the sight. Her body was even more perfect than he’d imagined it.

“Y’beautiful, Claire.” He managed to choke out after a moment. He brushed the tips of his fingers across the swell of her breast before coming up to cup it in his hand. He squeezed gently, the flesh yielding easily to his fingers. She was indescribably soft.

She sighed softly, brushing her own fingers lightly over her other nipple. He was so gentle; unlike most of the men she’d had sex with more recently. It’d been rough, then. Quick, to blow off some steam and relax her body. This was different. Slow, loving. Exploring each other’s bodies for the first time.

“Can I taste?” He asked in a voice hardly above a whisper.

She smiled softly and leaned forward, allowing Steve to lean up and capture the rosy peak in his mouth. He flicked his tongue over it tentatively, tasting. Her skin tasted clean – a little like salt but not like much else. He sucked on it lightly, enjoying the warmth radiating from her. She gave a quiet, appreciative moan and she felt him grind against her in response.

“Y’so soft. Wow,” He murmured, nuzzling against her now. She took his free hand in hers, bringing it to her other breast and squeezing her hand around his. He bucked against her again, searching desperately for friction. He could already feel a wet spot forming on his boxers.

He could feel the heat beginning to radiate from her core, pressed against his lower stomach. His erection brushed somewhere against her thigh or her backside, he wasn’t sure which.

“Claire… please, I can’t wait anymore…” He whined. His cock was throbbing in time with the beat of his heart. His entire body felt like it was on fire; like if he had to wait any longer he might burn up.

She shifted, carefully, settling between his legs on the couch. She draped her upper body against his lower half, wiggling his sweats and boxers off of his hips carefully. He sprang to attention.

Claire admired him for a moment, lightly tracing the bottom curve with the tip of her forefinger. He was impressively hard; she couldn’t help but appreciate this. She felt a bit flattered and a lot turned on.

She smirked softly, a devilish idea creeping into her head as she touched him. She dragged her tongue, flat, over the length of his erection. He gasped and his hips jerked instinctively up.

“Does that feel nice?”

“Y-yeah.” He breathed, looking down at her, eyes half lidded.

She wet her lips, repeating the motion again and again until she took the tip in her mouth, her tongue swirling around the head. The bead of pre-cum that had formed there smeared against her palate. Mostly sweet, a little salty and still slightly bitter.

Steve’s hips angled off the couch with her ministrations, causing him to writhe beneath her and mewl. He could already feel his balls tightening, warning of what was to come. He had no tolerance for this; his hand had been the only thing he’d ever had wrapped around himself. Her hot, wet mouth with her persistent, skilled tongue was going to drive him over the edge.

He twisted his fingers into her hair, gripping tightly and moaning her name softly.

She pressed her tongue against him, simultaneously using her forearm to keep him pinned to the couch. She suckled softly, slowly dropping down and taking more of his achingly hard cock into her mouth. She twisted her other fist around the base of his cock, squeezing and working him in rhythm with her mouth.

He gave no warning as he came, just twisting his fingers into her hair as he spilled his seed into her mouth. It dribbled down her chin lightly and landed on his thigh, warm and wet. He shuddered, releasing his grip on her hair and letting out a long sigh.

“W-wow. Claire that was _awesome._ ”

Claire blushed lightly, swallowing and wiping the remainder of his essence off her chin. She hadn’t been expecting him to finish so easily, but wasn’t exactly a surprise. He was a virgin, after all.

“You’re supposed to warn a girl, you know.” She brushed her thumb over him, causing him to shudder again.

“Sorry, y’mouth just felt so good…” His face flushed. She could see panic flash in his eyes for a moment. “We aren’t done, are we?”

Claire chuckled, fumbling a kiss against the side of his mouth.

“Don’t worry, we’re not done by a long shot.”

The former college student took the time to help Steve to his feet and to the bedroom. She doubted Chris were to come back after he left, but there was always the chance that Chris or Rebecca (or anyone else with keys for the place, she assumed Jill and Barry had a set too) could waltz in and catch them in the act. While it would be a very memorable way to lose one’s virginity, she didn’t particularly want either one of them to endure that.

Once Steve was comfortable on the bed, Claire got to work removing her last layer. She wiggled out of her jeans and tossed them beside the suitcase of clothes, turning to face Steve wearing only her panties. They were bikini cut with a little pink bow on the front. He wondered if her underwear choices were always so sensible or if it was her only choice at the moment.

She straddled him, the only thing between them now was their respective pairs of underwear. She leaned forward with her palms flat on the bed on either side of him, her nipples brushing lightly against his chest. She kissed the tip of his nose before pressing her torso to his.

He rested a hand on her waist for a moment before sliding it down to cup the curve of her ass. He could already feel himself starting to get hard again. He loved the way her hips fit against him, the way her legs tangled carefully with his. Her breath was hot against the nape of his neck. 

“Claire?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever been…eaten out before?” He asked, staring up at the ceiling. He felt the blush creep over his cheekbones again. It felt so strange, hearing himself say those words. He’d heard the term once on a VHS tape he’d found tucked in the back of his parents’ closet.

She giggled. “Yes, I’ve been eaten out before.”

“Oh.” She could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Cause, I just thought… I would return the favor. I really wanna taste you, Claire.”

She gave a low groan in response. She figured she might have to teach him a few things but was not one to turn down oral stimulation. The thought of Steve’s eager, hot mouth enveloping her made her even slicker.

“I’ll have to sit on your face.”

Steve felt his cock twitch at her words. He nodded furiously, beginning to salivate at the thought. Claire wiggled her underwear off, running her middle finger down her slit a few times. She shivered lightly at her own touch.

She carefully maneuvered to the top of the bed, grasping the headboard as she brought one knee on either side of Steve’s head.

“Wow, it’s so pink,” She heard him gasp somewhere underneath her. She giggled, slowly lowering herself down while using the headboard for leverage. He gave a soft, tentative lick over her opening, tip of his tongue parting her folds just slightly.

He breathed in her scent. It was – different, than he’d expected. Musky, with a slight undertone of sweetness. He slipped his tongue inside, tasting her. He gave a soft, appreciative groan as he flicked his tongue.

She giggled softly, feeling his timid little movements. His teeth grazed one of her labia lightly as he grew acquainted with her pussy. After a moment she started offering direction, not so keen on his – ah, technique.

“Take the tip of your tongue and trace my clit, here…” She brushed her fingers across the hardened little nub to show him where it was. He nodded, obeying and flicking his tongue over her clit. He felt her legs quiver around him. “And if you flatten your tongue out – mm – you can lick the whole thing.”

She found herself grinding against him quickly as he fell into a pattern and he grew more confident in his actions. He had a lot to learn, but he was certainly willing to learn, and Claire was more than happy to teach him. She had an image of lazy Sundays spent in bed with Steve between her legs. She liked that idea, quite a lot, actually.

It was Claire’s turn to run out of patience, pulling away from Steve despite his objections. 

“Y’didn’t even come,” He whined, tongue dipping below his tongue to lap up the juices left there. “I wasn’t done yet…”

She smiled softly and didn’t have the heart to tell him it would take him some time and practice before he could make her climax. She chose the gentler of two truths.

“I want you inside me.”

Steve groaned, leaning his head back against her pillow. He didn’t protest this time as Claire re-positioned herself. She wiggled his underwear all the way off and tossed it to the side, admiring him for a second time that evening. He was hard as a rock and ready to go again. She had a habit of sleeping with… older men, most of the time, but this was a very welcome change. He needed a little bit of training but it was a task she was very interested in taking on.

She couldn’t help but tease him once his underwear was off, taking a moment to grind herself against his bare cock. She was slick – thanks to a mixture of her own juices and Steve’s saliva. She felt the urge to just take him; drop her hips down and envelop him. Skin on skin with someone he loved for his first time. But she shook the thought from her head; Chris brought her condoms for a reason.

She pointed to the side table drawer. It took a second for her brain to catch up with what she wanted to say as she rubbed herself against his erection.

“Condoms.”

He, thankfully, understood and opened the drawer, fumbling for the box of condoms. He pulled the top open, fingers disappearing inside for a moment. He pulled two condoms out, squinting at them until the small text came into focus.

“Uh… extra sensitive or ribbed for her pleasure?” Steve felt his face get hot again as though he Claire weren’t grinding her bare sex against him.

“Extra sensitive.” She held her hand out expectantly, waiting for the small foil packet. Once Steve shoved it into her hand, she tore the corner off and withdrew the lubricated condom. She’d wished her brother had been so kind as to bring her lube too, but supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers. She pinched the tip and rolled it down Steve’s shaft, making sure it fit well. “How’s that?”

Steve wrinkled his nose lightly. It felt strange. Almost sticky. “Fine.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “…I know. I don’t like them either.” Honestly, she would have preferred to skip one, but she didn’t want to risk pregnancy, having been off of her birth control for a few months. As much as she wanted to feel every bit of Steve inside of her, she knew this wasn’t going to be a one night stand. It was the first time but it wasn’t going to be the last.

She kissed him softly, mumbling a quiet apology for the barrier as she repositioned herself over him. She sunk her hips down, feeling his cock slip past her lips. She lingered there for a second before letting herself envelop him entirely.

It took everything he had to not buck into her. She was warm and _tight –_ tighter than he could’ve ever imagined. He screwed his eyes shut and focused on his breathing for a moment as he adjusted to the new feeling.

Claire kissed him again as she began to move her hips. She started out in a slow rhythm – rolling her hips against him once, twice, three times and using her hands as leverage to bring herself up, almost off of him entirely, only to drop right back down again.

Steve moved in time with her after a moment, fingers digging into the soft skin of her hips. He was limited with his range of movement, between his injuries and his lack of experience. His movements were clumsy and slow compared to hers.

She tugged gently on his gold hoop earring with her teeth, drawing the entire lobe into her mouth and sucking softly. She whispered sweet nothings into his ear; how much she’d wanted to do this, how she couldn’t wait to feel him finish inside, exactly how good his cock felt buried deep inside her. It had been everything she’d been missing, craving from her life before all of this and she hadn’t been able to put a name to it.

The younger boy tried to form coherent words and string sentences together but failed, most of his words turning into moans and whimpers by the time they actually made it past his lips.

“Claire, ah…” He gripped her hips tight, bucking against her blindly.

She kissed him, plunging her tongue into his mouth with no warning. She kissed him deeply as she worked her hips against him. She slipped her hand between her legs, pressing her middle and forefinger against her clit. She noticed how hard she was there, working small, quick circles with two of her fingers. She didn’t know if it was from the days of build-up, the fact she hadn’t had an orgasm in weeks, or the strong emotional connection she shared with Steve, but she could feel the knot in her lower stomach signaling the build to her climax.

The words began to pour out of her mouth effortlessly as drew closer.

“Y’cock feels so good, Steve...” She nipped at the skin on his neck, barely hard enough to leave a mark. Her voice was breathy and light, growing more and more uneven with each time she dropped herself down on him. The muscles in her legs began to burn but she powered through it. “Love th’ little sounds you make,”

Steve’s head lolled back onto the bed as Claire rode him, listening to her moans and trying to think of something – anything else - to keep him from spilling over that edge again. He wanted this to last as long as possible, didn’t want to disappoint her.

She fell nearly silent, only offering soft whimpers for a moment before she broke that silence with a loud gasp and shuddering moan.

“Gonna – ah, come!” She breathed, high pitched. It was all the warning she gave before her own orgasm spread through her body. Her pussy convulsed around him and she slumped forward for a moment as the aftershocks spread over her body. It was all he needed, despite his attempts to last longer, to join her.

He came nearly immediately after her, bucking into her one last time and spilling his seed into the latex condom between them. He stilled inside of her after a moment, his legs quivering lightly. It was like his entire body was vibrating.

They stayed like that for a long moment, the only sound between them was their breaths. Soft little pants that evened out to deeper, more even ones. After Claire regained her senses, she slowly rolled off of him. His erection was beginning to flag, so she took that moment to pull the condom off of him. She tied it off at the end and tossed it into the waste basket beside the bed.

She practically collapsed beside him, wrapping her arms around his torso. She placed a few more kisses against his jaw. She couldn’t help but snuggle into him, nuzzling her face against the nape of his neck.

They were silent for a long while. Claire was absolutely content and Steve felt like he didn’t know what to say. It was strange because he didn’t exactly _feel_ any different despite always assuming he would after the first time, while simultaneously somehow feeling closer to Claire. He’d built it up in his head, especially towards the end. He had been so terrified of dying a virgin, not being able to experience one of life’s most primal pleasures. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve this second chance, this shot at a life with a happy ending.

“Thank you.” He murmured softly after a moment, squeezing her hip. “I mean, thank you for everything.” He wrapped his arms around her tight.

“I love you, Steve.”

“I love you too, Claire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this!!! It might be the last chapter but I will be writing more in this universe!!! I just, I just really want there to be a timeline in which Steve and Claire are happy and Steve ages. All of the titles in this fic are Nightclub lyrics and I don't own them. 
> 
> Thank you so much!


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